Natixis Advisors LLC Has $21.44 Million Stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Natixis Advisors LLC lowered its position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 130,095 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,328 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in RLI were worth $21,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RLI. Nepsis Inc. increased its holdings in RLI by 138.8% in the fourth quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 296,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,876,000 after buying an additional 172,370 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in RLI in the fourth quarter worth approximately $17,854,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in RLI in the third quarter worth approximately $9,931,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in RLI in the third quarter worth approximately $9,458,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 58,167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RLI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, RLI presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 12,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $961,093.58. This trade represents a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes bought 5,000 shares of RLI stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $71.35 per share, with a total value of $356,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 139,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,931,206.50. This trade represents a 3.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774. 5.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

RLI Stock Up 1.3 %

RLI opened at $76.67 on Tuesday. RLI Corp. has a 1-year low of $67.53 and a 1-year high of $91.15. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.47 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50 day moving average of $75.50 and a 200-day moving average of $79.38.

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 net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a boost from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.