Wells Fargo & Company MN Reduces Holdings in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Wells Fargo & Company MN lessened its stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 310,118 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 14,448 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned about 0.34% of RLI worth $51,117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in RLI by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,608,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $759,577,000 after purchasing an additional 41,884 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in RLI by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,024,518 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $168,907,000 after purchasing an additional 116,088 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in RLI by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 490,725 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $80,886,000 after purchasing an additional 18,199 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in RLI in the 4th quarter valued at about $80,476,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in RLI by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 471,752 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,759,000 after acquiring an additional 9,131 shares during the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RLI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price 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 decreased their target price on RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.80.

RLI Price Performance

Shares of RLI stock opened at $76.27 on Thursday. 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 Corp. has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $91.15. The firm has a market cap of $7.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $76.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.45.

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

RLI Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 $961,093.58. The trade was a 10.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 23,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,745,835.68. The trade was a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have purchased 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774 in the last 90 days. 5.09% of the stock is currently owned by 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.