Bessemer Group Inc. Has $796,000 Stock Holdings in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 7,704.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,912 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 9,785 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in RLI were worth $796,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in RLI in the fourth quarter valued at about $80,476,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of RLI by 580.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 415,247 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $68,445,000 after buying an additional 354,219 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of RLI by 15,376.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 160,178 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $12,867,000 after buying an additional 159,143 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in RLI by 111.3% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 244,502 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $19,641,000 after acquiring an additional 128,802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in RLI by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,024,518 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $168,907,000 after acquiring an additional 116,088 shares in the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

RLI Price Performance

Shares of RLI traded up $1.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $71.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 559,188 shares, compared to its average volume of 387,047. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.52 and a beta of 0.67. RLI Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $68.50 and a fifty-two week high of $91.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $74.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $36.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $442.20 million. RLI had a return on equity of 16.26% and a net margin of 16.22%. RLI's revenue was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. This is a positive change from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. RLI's payout ratio is currently 21.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on RLI shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Compass Point downgraded shares of RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $78.60.

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.