Voleon Capital Management LP Makes New $428,000 Investment in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,595 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $428,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in RLI in the third quarter worth about $1,193,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in shares of RLI by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 115,569 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $17,911,000 after acquiring an additional 4,322 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in RLI by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in RLI in the fourth quarter worth $208,000. 77.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on RLI shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point lowered shares of RLI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.60.

Insider Transactions at RLI

In related news, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total transaction of $112,155.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $961,093.58. This trade represents a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total transaction of $214,484.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,745,835.68. This trade represents a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.16% of the company’s stock.

RLI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RLI opened at $73.19 on Friday. RLI Corp. has a 52 week low of $68.50 and a 52 week high of $91.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $6.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.54 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $76.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.23.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $36.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $442.20 million. RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. RLI’s payout ratio is 19.74%.

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.