RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Shares Acquired by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 7,704.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of RLI stock traded up $1.27 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $71.70. The stock had a trading volume of 559,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 387,894. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a PE ratio of 23.59 and a beta of 0.67. RLI Corp. has a twelve month low of $68.50 and a twelve month high of $91.15.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $36.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $442.20 million. RLI had a net margin of 16.22% and a return on equity of 16.26%. RLI's revenue was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This is a boost from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. RLI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.05%.

About RLI

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.