Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 110.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 251,043 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 131,622 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.27% of RLI worth $20,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of RLI. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of RLI by 104.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,162 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $191,000 after acquiring an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in RLI during the 4th quarter worth about $2,146,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in RLI during the 4th quarter worth about $17,854,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in RLI by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,114 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,832,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its holdings in RLI by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 17,871 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,946,000 after buying an additional 892 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

RLI Stock Down 0.8%

RLI traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $70.13. 512,660 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 392,036. The company has a market cap of $6.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.07 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35. The company's fifty day moving average price is $73.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.55. RLI Corp. has a one year low of $69.16 and a one year high of $91.15.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for 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 for the quarter was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS 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 issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. This is a boost from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. RLI's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.