UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Raises Stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 181,118 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 24,536 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned 0.20% of RLI worth $29,854,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RLI during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of RLI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of RLI by 47.0% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 497 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of RLI in the fourth quarter worth $108,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of RLI in the fourth quarter worth $120,000. 77.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at RLI

In related news, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total transaction of $214,484.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,745,835.68. The trade was a 10.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total transaction of $112,155.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at $961,093.58. The trade was a 10.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on RLI shares. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Compass Point lowered shares of RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $78.60.

RLI Price Performance

Shares of RLI stock traded up $0.55 on Friday, hitting $76.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 336,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 366,482. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.34. RLI Corp. has a 1 year low of $68.50 and a 1 year high of $91.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $75.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.29. The company has a market capitalization of $7.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.52 and a beta of 0.72.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $36.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $442.20 million. RLI had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 19.53%. The business's revenue was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This is a positive change from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. RLI's payout ratio is presently 21.05%.

About RLI

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.