Man Group plc Has $9.14 Million Position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Man Group plc cut its holdings in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,449 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,304 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned about 0.06% of RLI worth $9,140,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of RLI in the 4th quarter valued at $80,476,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in RLI by 580.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 415,247 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $68,445,000 after buying an additional 354,219 shares in the last quarter. Nepsis Inc. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 172,370 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of RLI by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,024,518 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $168,907,000 after acquiring an additional 116,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of RLI during the 4th quarter worth about $17,854,000. 77.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at RLI

In related news, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value of $112,155.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $961,093.58. This represents a 10.45% decrease 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 the firm’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 transaction, the director now owns 23,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,745,835.68. This represents a 10.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.16% of the company’s stock.

RLI Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of RLI stock opened at $75.71 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22 and a beta of 0.72. RLI Corp. has a 1 year low of $68.50 and a 1 year high of $91.15. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. The company 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. This is a positive change from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. RLI’s payout ratio is currently 21.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RLI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.60.

RLI 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.