Insider Buying: RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Director Buys 2,200 Shares of Stock

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Director Michael E. Angelina purchased 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $72.62 per share, with a total value of $159,764.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,707,586.68. This represents a 10.32 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

RLI Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE RLI opened at $72.27 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $6.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.95. RLI Corp. has a 12-month low of $67.04 and a 12-month high of $91.14.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.64). RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.38%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that RLI Corp. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a None dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $2.145 per share. This represents a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. RLI’s payout ratio is 15.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on RLI. StockNews.com downgraded shares of RLI from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Oppenheimer started coverage on RLI in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Compass Point reduced their target price on RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLI

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in RLI in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,053,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in RLI by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,633 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $230,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of RLI by 27.3% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 38,152 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,367,000 after purchasing an additional 8,185 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of RLI by 45.6% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 246 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in RLI in the second quarter worth about $244,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

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.