David Duclos Acquires 2,500 Shares of RLI (NYSE:RLI) Stock

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Director David Duclos purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $51.99 per share, for a total transaction of $129,975.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 9,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $508,462.20. This represents a 34.34% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

RLI Trading Down 2.9%

NYSE:RLI opened at $50.03 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $54.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.32. The company has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 0.42. RLI Corp. has a twelve month low of $47.26 and a twelve month high of $77.24.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $423.87 million for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that RLI Corp. will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLI

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of RLI by 8.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 274,777 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $17,921,000 after acquiring an additional 20,438 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of RLI by 15.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,422,596 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $92,782,000 after purchasing an additional 191,020 shares in the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of RLI by 14.6% in the third quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 1,229,649 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $80,198,000 after purchasing an additional 156,241 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of RLI by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 607,176 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $38,847,000 after purchasing an additional 48,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of RLI by 1,030.2% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 34,009 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after purchasing an additional 31,000 shares in the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

RLI Company Profile

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.