New York State Common Retirement Fund Purchases 47,260 Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 40.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 164,544 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 47,260 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.18% of RLI worth $13,218,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of RLI. Norges Bank bought a new stake in RLI in the 4th quarter valued at $80,476,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in RLI by 580.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 415,247 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $68,445,000 after buying an additional 354,219 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in RLI by 90.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 650,583 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $52,261,000 after buying an additional 308,154 shares in the last quarter. Palisade Capital Management LP lifted its position in RLI by 89.4% during the 1st quarter. Palisade Capital Management LP now owns 574,807 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $46,174,000 after buying an additional 271,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EULAV Asset Management lifted its position in RLI by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 414,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $33,257,000 after buying an additional 207,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company's stock.

RLI Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of RLI traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $70.20. 648,947 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 395,526. RLI Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $69.16 and a fifty-two week high of $91.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The business has a 50-day moving average of $73.30 and a 200-day moving average of $75.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.09 and a beta of 0.67.

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

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. 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. RLI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on RLI. Compass Point lowered shares of RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock 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 Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $78.60.

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.