Donaldson Capital Management LLC Increases Position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC boosted its position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 114.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,202 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 27,841 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC owned about 0.06% of RLI worth $4,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of RLI by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 471,752 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $77,759,000 after buying an additional 9,131 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in RLI in the fourth quarter worth $728,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in RLI in the fourth quarter valued at $17,854,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RLI during the 4th quarter worth $840,000. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of RLI during the 1st quarter worth $1,120,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.89% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on RLI shares. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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. Compass Point lowered RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, RLI currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $78.60.

RLI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RLI traded up $0.72 on Thursday, hitting $73.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 115,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 371,643. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $75.23 and a 200-day moving average of $77.65. The company has a market capitalization of $6.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.73 and a beta of 0.70. RLI Corp. has a 12-month low of $68.50 and a 12-month high of $91.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $36.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $442.20 million. RLI had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 19.53%. RLI's revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This is a boost from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. RLI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.05%.

RLI 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.