Jennifer Klobnak Purchases 2,000 Shares of RLI (NYSE:RLI) Stock

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) COO Jennifer Klobnak bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $52.72 per share, with a total value of $105,440.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer directly owned 104,318 shares in the company, valued at $5,499,644.96. The trade was a 1.95% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

RLI Stock Down 2.9%

NYSE:RLI opened at $50.03 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.32. The company has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 0.42. RLI Corp. has a 52 week low of $47.26 and a 52 week high of $77.24.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $423.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $564.47 million. RLI had a net margin of 20.81% and a return on equity of 17.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that RLI Corp. will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. This is a positive change from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. RLI’s payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLI

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in RLI by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,448,929 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $604,542,000 after acquiring an additional 310,857 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in RLI by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,875,002 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $567,823,000 after acquiring an additional 124,687 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in RLI by 33.1% in the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,579,955 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $147,161,000 after acquiring an additional 641,769 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in RLI by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,191,891 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $140,260,000 after acquiring an additional 67,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in RLI by 1.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,920,823 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $109,567,000 after acquiring an additional 21,299 shares during the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on RLI shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of RLI from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of RLI from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of RLI from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of RLI from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of RLI from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.50.

About RLI

RLI Corporation (NYSE:RLI) is a specialty property and casualty insurance company focused on underwriting niche risks for businesses and individuals. Headquartered in Peoria, Illinois, the company operates through a network of independent agents and brokers, offering customized coverage solutions. RLI’s approach emphasizes disciplined underwriting, targeted product development and strong customer service to maintain profitability and long-term growth.

Founded in 1965 as Replacement Lens, Inc, RLI initially provided insurance for contact lens manufacturers before shifting its focus to specialty insurance in the 1980s.