RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Shares Purchased by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 580.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 415,247 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 354,219 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 0.45% of RLI worth $68,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in RLI. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in RLI by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,608,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $759,577,000 after purchasing an additional 41,884 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in RLI by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,393,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $680,866,000 after buying an additional 58,167 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in RLI by 5.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 908,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $140,817,000 after acquiring an additional 50,654 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in RLI in the fourth quarter worth 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 currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at RLI

In other news, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total transaction of $214,484.96. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,312 shares in the company, valued at $1,745,835.68. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $9,931,206.50. This represents a 3.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774. Insiders own 4.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on RLI. StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Compass Point reduced their price objective on RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.80.

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of RLI stock opened at $76.75 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.53. The company has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49 and a beta of 0.39. 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 Corp. has a 1-year low of $67.53 and a 1-year high of $91.15.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last issued 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 net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is 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.