New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 1,228 Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 117,284 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,228 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.13% of RLI worth $19,332,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of RLI. Nepsis Inc. lifted its stake in shares of RLI by 138.8% in the fourth quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 296,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,876,000 after buying an additional 172,370 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of RLI in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $9,931,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in RLI in the third quarter worth $9,458,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in RLI by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,393,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $680,866,000 after purchasing an additional 58,167 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in RLI by 5.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 908,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $140,817,000 after purchasing an additional 50,654 shares during the period. 77.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

RLI Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE RLI opened at $74.59 on Friday. RLI Corp. has a 1-year low of $67.53 and a 1-year high of $91.14. The company has a market cap of $6.84 billion, a PE ratio of 19.92 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a 50-day moving average of $77.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.20.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last posted 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 return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 19.53%. As a group, equities analysts expect that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a boost from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. RLI’s payout ratio is currently 15.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on RLI shares. StockNews.com upgraded RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Compass Point lowered their target price on shares of RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One equities research 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, RLI has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael J. Stone sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.78, for a total transaction of $33,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 429,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,421,205.05. The trade was a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $71.35 per share, with a total value of $356,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,931,206.50. The trade was a 3.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders bought 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774. 5.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.