Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 102.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 953,056 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 481,304 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.04% of RLI worth $76,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in RLI by 95.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,996,643 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $722,700,000 after buying an additional 4,388,400 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. increased its stake in RLI by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 2,394,544 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $192,354,000 after buying an additional 1,197,272 shares during the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. increased its stake in RLI by 104.3% in the 1st quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 1,075,321 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $86,381,000 after buying an additional 549,042 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in RLI by 580.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 415,247 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $68,445,000 after buying an additional 354,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in RLI by 90.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 650,583 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $52,261,000 after buying an additional 308,154 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.89% of the company's stock.

RLI Stock Performance

RLI traded down $0.71 during trading on Friday, hitting $66.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 418,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 814,913. The firm has a market cap of $6.12 billion, a PE ratio of 19.11 and a beta of 0.66. RLI Corp. has a one year low of $65.14 and a one year high of $91.14. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $69.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.09. RLI had a net margin of 17.81% and a return on equity of 15.82%. The business had revenue of $562.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $445.55 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. The business's revenue was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. RLI's payout ratio is currently 18.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other RLI news, COO Jennifer L. Klobnak acquired 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $69.15 per share, with a total value of $207,450.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,807,817.50. The trade was a 3.14% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on RLI. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Compass Point cut shares of RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $78.60.

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.