RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,480,000 shares, a growth of 28.7% from the February 13th total of 1,150,000 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 476,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $71.35 per share, with a total value of $356,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 139,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,931,206.50. The trade was a 3.73 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total value of $214,484.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,312 shares in the company, valued at $1,745,835.68. This trade represents a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have acquired 11,200 shares of company stock worth $805,774 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLI

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of RLI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of RLI by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 203 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of RLI by 76.9% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of RLI during the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in RLI by 47.0% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 497 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on RLI shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Compass Point cut their target price on shares of RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. 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 research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.80.

RLI Trading Down 0.8 %

RLI stock opened at $76.01 on Wednesday. RLI 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $75.46 and its 200-day moving average is $79.37. The firm has a market cap of $6.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30 and a beta of 0.39.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 16.63%. Equities analysts anticipate that RLI will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is 16.00%.

RLI Company Profile

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.