RLI Corp. $RLI Shares Bought by Invesco Ltd.

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in RLI Corp. by 100.5%, owning 1,334,112 shares valued at approximately $107.17 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Other institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Markel Group Inc., also significantly boosted their holdings in RLI during the first quarter.
• RLI Corp. recently announced a dividend of $0.16 per share, representing a 1.0% yield and a payout ratio of 18.34%.

Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 100.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,334,112 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 668,717 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 1.45% of RLI worth $107,169,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in RLI by 100.0% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 19,526 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,569,000 after purchasing an additional 9,763 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in RLI by 99.6% in the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 112,616 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $9,046,000 after purchasing an additional 56,208 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in RLI by 105.5% in the first quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 253,074 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $20,329,000 after purchasing an additional 129,901 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in RLI by 100.0% in the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 13,224 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 6,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in RLI by 100.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 372 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at RLI

In other news, COO Jennifer L. Klobnak purchased 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $69.15 per share, for a total transaction of $207,450.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer owned 98,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,807,817.50. This trade represents a 3.14% 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. Insiders own 2.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RLI has been the subject of a number of research reports. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Compass Point cut shares of RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $78.60.

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:RLI traded up $0.9840 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $67.7940. The stock had a trading volume of 422,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 517,837. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $69.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.73. RLI Corp. has a 1-year low of $65.14 and a 1-year high of $91.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.43 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.09. RLI had a net margin of 17.81% and a return on equity of 15.82%. The company had revenue of $562.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. RLI's revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. RLI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.34%.

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.