Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Increases Position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 11,114 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,629 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in RLI were worth $1,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of RLI. Nepsis Inc. increased its stake in shares of RLI by 138.8% in the fourth quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 296,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,876,000 after purchasing an additional 172,370 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of RLI in the fourth quarter worth $17,854,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RLI in the third quarter worth $9,931,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of RLI in the third quarter worth $9,458,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of RLI by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,393,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $680,866,000 after purchasing an additional 58,167 shares in the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at RLI

In other news, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $71.35 per share, for a total transaction of $356,750.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 139,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,931,206.50. The trade was a 3.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of RLI stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total transaction of $214,484.96. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,745,835.68. The trade was a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders bought 11,200 shares of company stock worth $805,774. 5.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on RLI shares. Compass Point cut their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, RLI presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.80.

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:RLI opened at $76.67 on Tuesday. RLI Corp. has a 52 week low of $67.53 and a 52 week high of $91.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.47 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.64). RLI had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 19.53%. On average, analysts expect that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.00%.

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.