Fifth Third Bancorp Grows Stake in RLI Corp. $RLI

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 9,661.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,585 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 41,159 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in RLI were worth $2,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in RLI. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of RLI by 42.8% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 8,390 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 2,516 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in RLI by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,872 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,076,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of RLI by 22.7% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,513 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $543,000 after purchasing an additional 1,762 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of RLI by 33.4% during the 1st quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 18,842 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 4,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of RLI by 6.8% in the first quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 10,787 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at RLI

In other RLI news, COO Jennifer L. Klobnak purchased 2,000 shares of RLI stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $53.42 per share, with a total value of $106,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 102,318 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,465,827.56. This trade represents a 1.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Clark C. Kellogg bought 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $50.90 per share, for a total transaction of $152,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 4,502 shares in the company, valued at $229,151.80. This trade represents a 199.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 16,500 shares of company stock worth $858,955. Company insiders own 2.39% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on RLI shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on RLI from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings cut RLI from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded RLI from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of RLI from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. 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 given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $60.50.

RLI Stock Down 2.6%

RLI stock opened at $60.11 on Wednesday. RLI Corp. has a 52-week low of $47.26 and a 52-week high of $70.26. The business has a fifty day moving average of $55.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.41. The stock has a market cap of $5.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.04 and a beta of 0.38.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.10. RLI had a return on equity of 17.72% and a net margin of 20.81%.The firm had revenue of $423.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $564.47 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that RLI Corp. will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This is an increase from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. RLI's dividend payout ratio is 16.82%.

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.

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