Man Group plc Sells 3,304 Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Man Group plc cut its position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,449 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,304 shares during the period. Man Group plc’s holdings in RLI were worth $9,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RLI. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of RLI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in RLI in the 4th quarter valued at $56,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in RLI by 47.0% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 497 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of RLI during the fourth quarter worth $108,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of RLI during the fourth quarter worth $120,000. 77.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Compass Point downgraded shares of RLI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of 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 research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.60.

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of RLI stock opened at $75.71 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $6.95 billion, a PE ratio of 20.22 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $76.08 and a 200-day moving average of $78.83. 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 $68.50 and a one year high of $91.15.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The company had revenue of $36.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $442.20 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. This is a boost from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. RLI’s payout ratio is presently 21.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.