Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Grows Stock Position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 47,414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,288 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in RLI were worth $7,815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RLI. Nepsis Inc. raised its position in RLI by 138.8% in the fourth quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 296,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,876,000 after purchasing an additional 172,370 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in RLI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,854,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in RLI in the third quarter valued at approximately $9,931,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in RLI in the third quarter valued at approximately $9,458,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in RLI by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,393,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $680,866,000 after purchasing an additional 58,167 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of RLI stock opened at $76.22 on Friday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $75.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.32. The company has a market cap of $6.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35 and a beta of 0.39. RLI Corp. has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $91.15.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last issued its earnings results 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is an increase from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. RLI’s payout ratio is presently 16.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other RLI news, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $71.35 per share, with a total value of $356,750.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,931,206.50. This represents a 3.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 11,200 shares of company stock worth $805,774. Corporate insiders own 5.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RLI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Compass Point dropped their price target 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. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target 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. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.80.

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.