Pictet Asset Management SA Grows Position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Pictet Asset Management SA raised its stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 7.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,097 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA’s holdings in RLI were worth $677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in RLI by 0.8% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 160,425 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $21,322,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares during the last quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of RLI by 16.2% in the first quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. now owns 216,288 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,747,000 after acquiring an additional 30,145 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of RLI by 99.8% in the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,432 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 1,215 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in RLI during the first quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in RLI by 2.1% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 477,277 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $63,435,000 after buying an additional 9,659 shares in the last quarter. 79.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on RLI. StockNews.com started coverage on RLI in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Compass Point upped their price objective on shares of RLI from $165.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday, July 27th.

RLI Stock Down 0.7 %

RLI stock opened at $128.90 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a PE ratio of 8.27 and a beta of 0.42. RLI Corp. has a twelve month low of $100.96 and a twelve month high of $149.65. The company has a 50 day moving average of $134.42 and a 200-day moving average of $133.19.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.03). RLI had a net margin of 36.31% and a return on equity of 16.97%. The company had revenue of $381.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $358.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.49 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that RLI Corp. will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLI Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 30th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. RLI’s payout ratio is 6.93%.

RLI Profile

RLI Corp., an insurance holding company, underwrites property and casualty insurance in the United States and internationally. 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.