Independent Advisor Alliance Has $2.95 Million Holdings in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,871 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 892 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in RLI were worth $2,946,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in RLI. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of RLI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of RLI by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 203 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of RLI by 76.9% during the 3rd 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 period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of RLI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of RLI by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $171,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David B. Duclos acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $72.50 per share, for a total transaction of $145,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,215 shares in the company, valued at $523,087.50. This represents a 38.35 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $71.35 per share, with a total value of $356,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 139,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,931,206.50. This trade represents a 3.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774. Insiders own 5.09% of the company’s stock.

RLI Price Performance

RLI stock opened at $73.96 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $75.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.37. The company has a market capitalization of $6.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.75 and a beta of 0.39. RLI Corp. has a 52-week low of $67.53 and a 52-week high of $91.14. 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 results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.64). RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. As a group, equities analysts expect that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is an increase from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RLI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective 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, Compass Point dropped 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. 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, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.80.

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.