Marshall Wace LLP Makes New Investment in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 1,731 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American National Bank purchased a new position in RLI in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of RLI by 45.6% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 246 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of RLI in the first quarter worth about $44,000. Intelligent Financial Strategies purchased a new stake in shares of RLI in the first quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in RLI by 468.5% during the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 307 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on RLI from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of RLI in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $182.00 price objective for the company. Compass Point lowered their price target on shares of RLI from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $162.00 price target on shares of RLI in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.80.

RLI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RLI opened at $157.45 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $152.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.26. RLI Corp. has a 1-year low of $125.77 and a 1-year high of $160.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.75 and a beta of 0.41.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.37. RLI had a return on equity of 18.33% and a net margin of 20.78%. The company had revenue of $416.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $561.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that RLI Corp. will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.02%.

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.