Mad River Investors Grows Stock Holdings in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Mad River Investors boosted its stake in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 63.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares during the quarter. RLI accounts for 0.3% of Mad River Investors' holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Mad River Investors' holdings in RLI were worth $723,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in RLI during the fourth quarter valued at $80,476,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of RLI by 580.4% during 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 raised its stake in RLI by 15,376.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 160,178 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,867,000 after purchasing an additional 159,143 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in RLI by 111.3% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 244,502 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $19,641,000 after purchasing an additional 128,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in RLI by 12.8% during the 4th 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. 77.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RLI traded down $1.83 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $71.32. 413,688 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 377,754. The stock has a market cap of $6.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.46 and a beta of 0.70. RLI Corp. has a 1 year low of $68.50 and a 1 year high of $91.15. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $36.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $442.20 million. RLI had a return on equity of 16.26% and a net margin of 16.22%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. This is a positive change from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. RLI's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on RLI shares. Compass Point downgraded shares of RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, RLI has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.