EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 47.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 497 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in RLI were worth $82,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of RLI in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in RLI by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 203 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in RLI by 76.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in RLI in the 4th quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in RLI by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,745,835.68. This trade represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $71.35 per share, for a total transaction of $356,750.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,931,206.50. This trade represents a 3.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774. Insiders own 5.09% of the company’s stock.

RLI Price Performance

RLI stock opened at $76.01 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $75.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.38. RLI Corp. has a 12-month low of $67.53 and a 12-month high of $91.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30 and a beta of 0.39.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.64). RLI had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 19.53%. Equities analysts predict that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on RLI. Compass Point lowered their price objective on shares of RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.80.

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.