Two Sigma Investments LP Decreases Holdings in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Two Sigma Investments LP cut its stake in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 78.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,118 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 14,682 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP's holdings in RLI were worth $679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of RLI. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in RLI during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in RLI by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,579 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in RLI during the fourth quarter worth $840,000. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RLI in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,542,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of RLI by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 8,990 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,482,000 after purchasing an additional 1,773 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Compass Point downgraded shares of RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $78.60.

Insider Activity at RLI

In other RLI news, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of RLI stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total transaction of $214,484.96. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,312 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,745,835.68. This trade represents a 10.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

RLI Stock Performance

NYSE:RLI traded down $0.20 on Wednesday, reaching $73.15. 400,279 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 372,655. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.38. RLI Corp. has a 52 week low of $68.50 and a 52 week high of $91.15. The firm has a market cap of $6.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.53 and a beta of 0.70.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The company had revenue of $36.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $442.20 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. RLI's revenue was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.16 dividend. This is a positive change from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. RLI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.05%.

RLI Company Profile

RLI Corp., an insurance holding company, underwrites property and casualty insurance. Its Casualty segment provides commercial and personal coverage products; and general liability products, such as coverage for third-party liability of commercial insureds, including manufacturers, contractors, apartments, and mercantile.