Retirement Systems of Alabama Buys 128,802 Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 111.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 244,502 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 128,802 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.27% of RLI worth $19,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of RLI. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in RLI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $80,476,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of RLI by 580.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 415,247 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $68,445,000 after purchasing an additional 354,219 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of RLI by 15,376.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 160,178 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $12,867,000 after purchasing an additional 159,143 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in RLI by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,024,518 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $168,907,000 after purchasing an additional 116,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in RLI by 81.8% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 242,061 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $19,445,000 after purchasing an additional 108,889 shares during the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

RLI Price Performance

Shares of RLI traded down $1.83 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $71.32. The stock had a trading volume of 413,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 377,754. 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 Corp. has a 12 month low of $68.50 and a 12 month high of $91.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.55 billion, a PE ratio of 23.46 and a beta of 0.70. The company's 50-day moving average is $74.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.61.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. RLI had a return on equity of 16.26% and a net margin of 16.22%. The firm had revenue of $36.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $442.20 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This is an increase from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. RLI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

RLI Company Profile

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.