Renaissance Technologies LLC Has $989,000 Position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lessened its stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 86.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 38,700 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC's holdings in RLI were worth $989,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in RLI by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 471,752 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $77,759,000 after buying an additional 9,131 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of RLI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $728,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in RLI during the fourth quarter worth $17,854,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in RLI in the fourth quarter worth $840,000. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC bought a new stake in RLI during the fourth quarter valued at $1,199,000. Institutional investors own 77.89% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of RLI from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Compass Point downgraded RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com upgraded RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $78.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of RLI stock in a transaction that occurred 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 trade represents a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the company'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 transaction of $214,484.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:RLI traded up $0.27 on Tuesday, hitting $74.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 297,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 364,135. The company has a market capitalization of $6.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 0.72. 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 12 month low of $68.50 and a 12 month high of $91.15. The stock's 50-day moving average is $76.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.08.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $36.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $442.20 million. RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. RLI's quarterly revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. RLI's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.74%.

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.