Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 196 Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 119,421 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of RLI worth $19,684,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nepsis Inc. boosted its position in RLI by 138.8% during the fourth quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 296,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,876,000 after purchasing an additional 172,370 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of RLI in the third quarter worth $9,931,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of RLI during the 3rd quarter worth $9,458,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in RLI by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,393,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $680,866,000 after buying an additional 58,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in RLI by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 908,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $140,817,000 after acquiring an additional 50,654 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at RLI

In other news, insider Jeffrey D. Fick bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $72.13 per share, for a total transaction of $144,260.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 142,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,246,859.93. This trade represents a 1.43 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $71.35 per share, with a total value of $356,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,190 shares in the company, valued at $9,931,206.50. The trade was a 3.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774. 5.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

RLI Stock Performance

RLI opened at $74.89 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a PE ratio of 20.00 and a beta of 0.46. RLI Corp. has a 1 year low of $67.53 and a 1 year high of $91.14.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.64). RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. Sell-side analysts forecast that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a boost from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RLI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group cut RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Compass Point dropped their target price on shares of RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.80.

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.