Northern Trust Corp Boosts Stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 470,224 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 57,918 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.51% of RLI worth $77,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in RLI. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of RLI by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 203 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in RLI by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,035 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in RLI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Atlas Brown Inc. purchased a new position in shares of RLI during the fourth quarter worth approximately $285,000. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of RLI by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,827 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.89% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on RLI. StockNews.com downgraded shares of RLI from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut RLI from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $78.60.

RLI Price Performance

Shares of RLI stock opened at $74.38 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $76.29 and a 200 day moving average of $79.11. RLI Corp. has a 52 week low of $68.50 and a 52 week high of $91.15. The company has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a PE ratio of 19.86 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $36.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $442.20 million. RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. This is a boost from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. RLI's payout ratio is presently 19.74%.

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.

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