Craig Kliethermes Acquires 5,000 Shares of RLI (NYSE:RLI) Stock

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) CEO Craig Kliethermes acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $52.00 per share, with a total value of $260,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 148,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,747,480. The trade was a 3.47% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of RLI opened at $52.05 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $54.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.46. RLI Corp. has a 52-week low of $47.26 and a 52-week high of $77.24. The company has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 0.42.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.10. RLI had a return on equity of 17.72% and a net margin of 20.81%.The firm had revenue of $423.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $564.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that RLI Corp. will post 2.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This is an increase from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RLI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded RLI from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded RLI from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on RLI from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research upgraded RLI from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded RLI from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLI

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in RLI by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,448,929 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $604,542,000 after purchasing an additional 310,857 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in RLI by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,875,002 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $567,823,000 after purchasing an additional 124,687 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in RLI by 33.1% in the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,579,955 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $147,161,000 after purchasing an additional 641,769 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in RLI by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,191,891 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $140,260,000 after purchasing an additional 67,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in RLI by 1.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,920,823 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $109,567,000 after purchasing an additional 21,299 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

About RLI

RLI Corporation (NYSE:RLI) is a specialty property and casualty insurance company focused on underwriting niche risks for businesses and individuals. Headquartered in Peoria, Illinois, the company operates through a network of independent agents and brokers, offering customized coverage solutions. RLI’s approach emphasizes disciplined underwriting, targeted product development and strong customer service to maintain profitability and long-term growth.

Founded in 1965 as Replacement Lens, Inc, RLI initially provided insurance for contact lens manufacturers before shifting its focus to specialty insurance in the 1980s.