GSA Capital Partners LLP Grows Position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Key Points

• GSA Capital Partners LLP significantly increased its stake in RLI Corp. by 1,219.6%, owning 22,340 shares valued at approximately $1.8 million after acquiring over 20,000 additional shares in the first quarter.
• RLI reported earnings of $0.84 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, alongside a revenue increase of 20% year-over-year, bringing total revenue to $562.28 million.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.15 to $0.16 per share, marking a positive change and representing a 0.96% dividend yield.

GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 1,219.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,340 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 20,647 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP's holdings in RLI were worth $1,795,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of RLI. Markel Group Inc. lifted its holdings in RLI by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 2,394,544 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $192,354,000 after buying an additional 1,197,272 shares during the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in RLI by 104.3% during the 1st quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 1,075,321 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $86,381,000 after buying an additional 549,042 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in RLI in the fourth quarter valued at $80,476,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in RLI by 580.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 415,247 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $68,445,000 after acquiring an additional 354,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in RLI by 90.0% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 650,583 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $52,261,000 after acquiring an additional 308,154 shares in the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Compass Point downgraded shares of RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $78.60.

RLI Stock Performance

RLI stock traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $65.70. 601,838 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 520,905. RLI Corp. has a 12-month low of $65.14 and a 12-month high of $91.14. 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 stock has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86 and a beta of 0.67. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $71.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.44.

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

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. RLI's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.34%.

Insider Transactions at RLI

In other news, COO Jennifer L. Klobnak acquired 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $69.15 per share, with a total value of $207,450.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer owned 98,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,807,817.50. This represents a 3.14% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.16% of the company's stock.

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.