Handelsbanken Fonder AB Increases Stock Position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 100.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,730 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in RLI were worth $1,724,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in RLI by 100.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 406 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in RLI by 88.5% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 477 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in RLI in the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in RLI by 47.0% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 497 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in RLI in the fourth quarter valued at $108,000. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

RLI Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of RLI stock opened at $73.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.34. RLI Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $68.50 and a fifty-two week high of $91.15. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.33. The company has a market cap of $6.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.50 and a beta of 0.70.

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

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This is a positive change from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Compass Point lowered shares of RLI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, RLI currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.60.

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.