RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Short Interest Update

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 sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 476,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on RLI. Compass Point dropped their price objective on shares of RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, RLI presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at RLI

In related news, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes purchased 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 directly owns 139,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,931,206.50. The trade was a 3.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey D. Fick acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $72.13 per share, for a total transaction of $144,260.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 142,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,246,859.93. This trade represents a 1.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RLI

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RLI. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of RLI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $80,476,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of RLI by 580.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 415,247 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $68,445,000 after buying an additional 354,219 shares during the period. Nepsis Inc. lifted its stake in shares of RLI by 138.8% during 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. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in RLI by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,024,518 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $168,907,000 after purchasing an additional 116,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in RLI during the fourth quarter worth approximately $17,854,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

RLI Price Performance

RLI stock traded up $0.99 during trading on Monday, reaching $76.68. 124,430 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 323,042. The company has a market cap of $7.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.50 and a beta of 0.39. RLI has a 52-week low of $67.53 and a 52-week high of $91.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $75.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.34.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts predict that RLI 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.