Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 997 Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. cut its position in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,269 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 997 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.05% of RLI worth $8,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of RLI by 212.8% during the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 18,579 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,062,000 after purchasing an additional 12,639 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in RLI in the 4th quarter valued at $143,000. Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in RLI in the 4th quarter valued at $428,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in RLI by 90.2% in the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 13,651 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,250,000 after buying an additional 6,473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in RLI by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 45,905 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,566,000 after buying an additional 2,337 shares in the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

RLI Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE RLI opened at $75.65 on Wednesday. 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 Corp. has a 52 week low of $68.50 and a 52 week high of $91.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.20 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $76.14 and a 200-day moving average of $78.79.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. RLI had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 19.53%. The business had revenue of $36.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $442.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This is an increase from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RLI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Compass Point cut RLI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total value of $214,484.96. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,745,835.68. This represents a 10.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value of $112,155.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $961,093.58. This trade represents a 10.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.16% of the company’s stock.

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.