Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Invests $322,000 in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new stake in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,953 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $322,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of RLI by 2.3% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,545 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $704,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in RLI by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 6,034 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $935,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of RLI in the third quarter worth about $1,193,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in shares of RLI by 3.9% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 115,569 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $17,911,000 after purchasing an additional 4,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of RLI by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 203 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David B. Duclos bought 2,000 shares of RLI stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $72.50 per share, with a total value of $145,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 7,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $523,087.50. This trade represents a 38.35 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $71.35 per share, for a total transaction of $356,750.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,931,206.50. This trade represents a 3.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 11,200 shares of company stock worth $805,774 over the last ninety days. 2.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on RLI. StockNews.com raised RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Compass Point decreased their price target on RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.80.

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of RLI stock opened at $77.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.14 billion, a PE ratio of 20.76 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $76.28 and a 200-day moving average of $79.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.38. RLI Corp. has a one year low of $68.05 and a one year high of $91.15.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.64). RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. This is a boost from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. RLI’s payout ratio is presently 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.