Bessemer Group Inc. Sells 11,074 Shares of RLI Corp. $RLI

Bessemer Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 68.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,021 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 11,074 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in RLI were worth $287,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in RLI by 94.4% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of RLI by 156.4% during the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 464 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RLI during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of RLI by 85.9% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 684 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of RLI in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on RLI shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of RLI from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of RLI from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of RLI from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of RLI from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded RLI from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Clark C. Kellogg bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $50.90 per share, for a total transaction of $152,700.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 4,502 shares in the company, valued at $229,151.80. This represents a 199.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jennifer L. Klobnak purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $52.72 per share, with a total value of $105,440.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 104,318 shares in the company, valued at $5,499,644.96. This represents a 1.95% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have bought 16,500 shares of company stock valued at $858,955 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.39% of the company’s stock.

RLI Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:RLI opened at $61.92 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $55.96 and a 200 day moving average of $57.36. The company has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 13.01 and a beta of 0.38. RLI Corp. has a 12-month low of $47.26 and a 12-month high of $69.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.11. RLI had a net margin of 22.22% and a return on equity of 17.61%. The company had revenue of $575.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that RLI Corp. will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This is a positive change from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. RLI’s payout ratio is 15.13%.

RLI Company Profile

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.