Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Increases Stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 263,721 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 25,813 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.29% of RLI worth $43,469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of RLI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of RLI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of RLI by 47.0% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 497 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of RLI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $108,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of RLI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $120,000. 77.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on RLI. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded RLI from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, RLI currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $78.60.

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of RLI opened at $74.60 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.95. The stock has a market cap of $6.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.92 and a beta of 0.72. RLI Corp. has a 52 week low of $68.50 and a 52 week high of $91.15.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarterly revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. RLI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

RLI 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.