GAMMA Investing LLC Invests $41,000 in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $41,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in RLI by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,082,470 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $147,097,000 after buying an additional 11,965 shares during the period. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of RLI by 18.1% in the third quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 526,679 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $71,570,000 after acquiring an additional 80,552 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of RLI by 39.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 400,532 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $54,428,000 after acquiring an additional 112,988 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in RLI by 0.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 395,547 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $53,751,000 after acquiring an additional 3,562 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in RLI by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 320,540 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $43,558,000 after purchasing an additional 6,896 shares in the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Compass Point increased their target price on shares of RLI from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on RLI from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on RLI from $160.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.25.

RLI Price Performance

NYSE RLI opened at $143.57 on Friday. RLI Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $149.20. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $144.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a PE ratio of 19.83 and a beta of 0.37.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.26. RLI had a return on equity of 17.24% and a net margin of 20.96%. The business had revenue of $444.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $460.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. RLI’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that RLI Corp. will post 5.74 earnings per share for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This is a positive change from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. RLI’s payout ratio is 14.92%.

RLI 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.