Vise Technologies Inc. Makes New $1.04 Million Investment in RLI Corp. $RLI

Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 17,582 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,039,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. 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 during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in RLI by 85.9% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 684 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in RLI in the third quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in RLI by 28.5% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 835 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on RLI shares. Weiss Ratings raised RLI from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of RLI in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. UBS Group set a $74.00 price objective on RLI in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut RLI from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $57.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, RLI has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other RLI news, Director David B. Duclos purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $51.99 per share, with a total value of $129,975.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 9,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $508,462.20. This trade represents a 34.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $52.00 per share, for a total transaction of $104,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 150,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,851,480. This represents a 1.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders purchased a total of 9,500 shares of company stock valued at $492,115 over the last three months. 2.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

RLI Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE RLI opened at $65.47 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.02. The company has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a PE ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 0.38. RLI Corp. has a 12-month low of $47.26 and a 12-month high of $69.19.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $575.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.70 million. RLI had a return on equity of 17.61% and a net margin of 22.22%.The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that RLI Corp. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.13%.

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.