Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 79,825 Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 733,894 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 79,825 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.80% of RLI worth $121,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in shares of RLI by 0.8% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 7,879 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in RLI by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 203 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in RLI by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,723 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in RLI by 76.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of RLI by 2.3% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,545 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $704,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

RLI Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of RLI opened at $76.67 on Tuesday. 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 $67.53 and a fifty-two week high of $91.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $75.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.38. The firm has a market cap of $7.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.47 and a beta of 0.39.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.64). RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is an increase from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. RLI’s payout ratio is presently 16.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Compass Point cut their price target on shares of RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at RLI

In other RLI news, Director Michael E. Angelina acquired 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $72.62 per share, for a total transaction of $159,764.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 23,514 shares in the company, valued at $1,707,586.68. This represents a 10.32 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes bought 5,000 shares of RLI stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $71.35 per share, for a total transaction of $356,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,931,206.50. This trade represents a 3.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.09% of the company’s stock.

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.