Bayesian Capital Management LP Buys New Holdings in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,539 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of RLI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in RLI by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,608,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $759,577,000 after buying an additional 41,884 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its position in shares of RLI by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,331,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $219,475,000 after acquiring an additional 19,695 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in RLI by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,024,518 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $168,907,000 after purchasing an additional 116,088 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in RLI by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 941,185 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $155,136,000 after purchasing an additional 7,609 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maren Capital LLC increased its stake in RLI by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Maren Capital LLC now owns 700,603 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $115,480,000 after purchasing an additional 25,874 shares during the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

RLI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RLI opened at $74.29 on Friday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $76.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.00. RLI Corp. has a 52 week low of $68.50 and a 52 week high of $91.15. The company has a market cap of $6.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.84 and a beta of 0.72.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The business had revenue of $36.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $442.20 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. RLI’s payout ratio is currently 19.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RLI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Compass Point cut shares of RLI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total value of $214,484.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,312 shares in the company, valued at $1,745,835.68. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of RLI stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value of $112,155.00. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About RLI

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.