Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Makes New $120,000 Investment in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 726 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $120,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RLI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of RLI by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 203 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of RLI by 76.9% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of RLI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on RLI. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point decreased their price objective on RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $71.35 per share, with a total value of $356,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 139,190 shares in the company, valued at $9,931,206.50. This trade represents a 3.73 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David B. Duclos acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $72.50 per share, for a total transaction of $145,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 7,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $523,087.50. The trade was a 38.35 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774. 5.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

RLI Stock Performance

NYSE:RLI opened at $76.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.00 billion, a PE ratio of 20.38 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $75.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.33. 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 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $91.15.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.64). RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a positive change from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.00%.

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.