Entropy Technologies LP Takes $845,000 Position in RLI Corp. $RLI

Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 14,822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $845,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in RLI by 94.4% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in RLI by 156.4% during the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 464 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in RLI during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of RLI by 85.9% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 684 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of RLI during the third quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at RLI

In related news, Director David B. Duclos purchased 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $51.99 per share, with a total value of $129,975.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 9,780 shares in the company, valued at $508,462.20. This trade represents a 34.34% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jennifer L. Klobnak purchased 2,000 shares of RLI stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $52.72 per share, for a total transaction of $105,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 104,318 shares in the company, valued at $5,499,644.96. The trade was a 1.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders bought a total of 16,500 shares of company stock worth $858,955 over the last quarter. 2.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

RLI Trading Up 1.7%

RLI stock opened at $65.15 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of 13.69 and a beta of 0.38. RLI Corp. has a 1 year low of $47.26 and a 1 year high of $69.19. The company’s 50-day moving average is $56.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.43.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $575.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.70 million. RLI had a net margin of 22.22% and a return on equity of 17.61%. RLI’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. Research analysts forecast that RLI Corp. will post 2.8 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This is a boost from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. RLI’s payout ratio is 15.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on RLI. 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 note on Thursday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of RLI in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group set a $74.00 price target on shares of RLI in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of RLI from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of RLI from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.20.

RLI 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.