Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. Sells 1,174 Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 18.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,120 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,174 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in RLI were worth $844,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of RLI in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of RLI by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 203 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted 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 in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in RLI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of RLI by 47.0% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 497 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael E. Angelina acquired 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $72.62 per share, with a total value of $159,764.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 23,514 shares in the company, valued at $1,707,586.68. This represents a 10.32 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jeffrey D. Fick bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $72.13 per share, with a total value of $144,260.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 142,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,246,859.93. This represents a 1.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774. Company insiders own 5.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RLI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Compass Point dropped their target price on RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.80.

RLI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RLI opened at $78.25 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. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $75.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.36. The company has a market cap of $7.18 billion, a PE ratio of 20.89 and a beta of 0.39. RLI Corp. has a twelve month low of $67.53 and a twelve month high of $91.15.

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

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 dividend yield of 0.77%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.00%.

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.