BNP Paribas Financial Markets Reduces Holdings in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets trimmed its holdings in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 35.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,901 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 19,020 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in RLI were worth $5,753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of RLI by 212.8% during the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 18,579 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,062,000 after buying an additional 12,639 shares during the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of RLI during the 4th quarter valued at about $143,000. Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of RLI in the fourth quarter worth approximately $428,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of RLI by 90.2% during the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 13,651 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,250,000 after purchasing an additional 6,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of RLI by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 45,905 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $7,566,000 after purchasing an additional 2,337 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.89% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at RLI

In other RLI news, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the director now owns 23,312 shares in the company, valued at $1,745,835.68. This trade represents a 10.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of RLI stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value of $112,155.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $961,093.58. The trade was a 10.45% 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

NYSE RLI traded up $0.88 on Friday, reaching $75.71. 251,129 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 363,342. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.95 billion, a PE ratio of 20.22 and a beta of 0.72. RLI Corp. has a one year low of $68.50 and a one year high of $91.15. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $76.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $36.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. Analysts expect that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. This is a boost from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. RLI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RLI has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point cut RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $78.60.

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.