RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Increases Dividend to $4.29 Per Share

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) announced a None dividend on Thursday, November 7th,Zacks Dividends reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of 4.29 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, December 20th. This represents a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This is a boost from RLI’s previous None dividend of $2.25.

RLI has raised its dividend by an average of 4.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 50 years. RLI has a payout ratio of 18.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect RLI to earn $6.28 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.5%.

RLI Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:RLI opened at $180.24 on Thursday. RLI has a 12-month low of $125.77 and a 12-month high of $182.29. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $162.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $151.63. The firm has a market cap of $8.26 billion, a PE ratio of 19.81 and a beta of 0.41.

RLI’s stock is going to split on Thursday, January 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Thursday, November 7th. The newly created shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Wednesday, January 15th.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $470.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $491.54 million. RLI had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 23.77%. RLI’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that RLI will post 5.85 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on RLI shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of RLI in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $182.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on RLI from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on RLI in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Compass Point boosted their target price on RLI from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of RLI from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, RLI presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.40.

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.