RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $177.40.

A number of research firms have commented on RLI. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of RLI from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on RLI from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on RLI in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $182.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of RLI in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Compass Point raised their price objective on shares of RLI from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th.

RLI Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of RLI stock opened at $162.64 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $7.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.87 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $169.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.19. RLI has a 1-year low of $132.30 and a 1-year high of $182.29.

Shares of RLI are scheduled to split before the market opens on Thursday, January 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Thursday, November 7th. The newly issued shares will be distributed to shareholders after the closing bell on Wednesday, January 15th.

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

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a None dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $4.29 per share. This is a positive change from RLI’s previous None dividend of $2.25. This represents a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael J. Stone sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.55, for a total value of $33,910.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 214,811 shares in the company, valued at $36,421,205.05. The trade was a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RLI. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in RLI by 2.1% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,485 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of RLI by 3.2% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,495 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,743,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of RLI during the 2nd quarter valued at $113,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in RLI by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 134,140 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $18,872,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in RLI by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,761 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $670,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.89% 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.