AQR Capital Management LLC Buys 58,650 Shares of RLI Corp. $RLI

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 127.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 104,555 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,650 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in RLI were worth $8,353,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in RLI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of RLI by 95.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,996,643 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $722,700,000 after purchasing an additional 4,388,400 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in RLI by 117.0% in the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 5,226,797 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $419,869,000 after buying an additional 2,817,616 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its holdings in RLI by 106.6% in the 1st quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 2,750,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $220,967,000 after buying an additional 1,419,212 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. increased its position in RLI by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 2,394,544 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $192,354,000 after buying an additional 1,197,272 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of RLI by 97.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,861,984 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $149,569,000 after buying an additional 920,799 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, RLI presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.60.

RLI Stock Performance

NYSE:RLI opened at $67.01 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $68.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.77. The company has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.20 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35. RLI Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $65.14 and a fifty-two week high of $91.14.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $562.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.55 million. RLI had a return on equity of 15.82% and a net margin of 17.81%.RLI’s revenue was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.34%.

Insider Activity at RLI

In other news, COO Jennifer L. Klobnak purchased 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $69.15 per share, with a total value of $207,450.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer owned 98,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,807,817.50. The trade was a 3.14% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.16% of the company’s stock.

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.