RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

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

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in RLI. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in RLI by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 372 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of RLI by 100.0% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 406 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of RLI by 88.5% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 477 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of RLI by 100.0% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 566 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of RLI by 132.4% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 739 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms 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 Tuesday, May 6th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a report 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. 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 MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $78.60.

RLI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RLI traded down $0.57 during trading on Thursday, hitting $70.70. The company had a trading volume of 415,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 390,614. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.72. RLI Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $68.50 and a fifty-two week high of $91.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26 and a beta of 0.67. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. RLI had a net margin of 16.22% and a return on equity of 16.26%. The business had revenue of $36.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $442.20 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were given a $0.16 dividend. This is a positive change from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. 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.