CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Cuts Stock Position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC decreased its position in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 75.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,100 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 25,172 shares during the quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in RLI were worth $1,243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of RLI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of RLI by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 471,752 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $77,759,000 after purchasing an additional 9,131 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in RLI in the fourth quarter valued at about $728,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in RLI in the fourth quarter valued at about $840,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in RLI in the fourth quarter worth about $17,854,000. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RLI during the fourth quarter worth about $1,199,000. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at RLI

In other RLI news, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $71.35 per share, for a total transaction of $356,750.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,931,206.50. This trade represents a 3.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was 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 directly owns 23,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,745,835.68. The trade was a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 11,200 shares of company stock worth $805,774 in the last three months. Company insiders own 4.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RLI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Compass Point lowered their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, RLI has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.80.

RLI Price Performance

NYSE:RLI opened at $80.68 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $75.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.53. The firm has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.54 and a beta of 0.39. RLI Corp. has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $91.15. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 EPS 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%. Research analysts expect that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. This is a positive change from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. RLI’s 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.