Natixis Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 1.0% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 134,140 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,286 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in RLI were worth $18,872,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of RLI during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,024,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of RLI by 585.0% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 41,649 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,184,000 after buying an additional 35,569 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in RLI by 52.2% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,645 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,729,000 after purchasing an additional 3,993 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in RLI by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 168,210 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $22,392,000 after purchasing an additional 5,113 shares during the period. Finally, Maren Capital LLC bought a new stake in RLI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $67,149,000. 77.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on RLI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on RLI from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on RLI from $170.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Compass Point decreased their target price on RLI from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of RLI in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.25.

RLI Price Performance

NYSE:RLI opened at $154.26 on Wednesday. RLI Corp. has a 1 year low of $125.77 and a 1 year high of $155.59. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $145.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $144.63. The company has a market cap of $7.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31 and a beta of 0.41.

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

RLI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. RLI’s payout ratio is 16.02%.

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.