RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $82.80.

RLI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Compass Point lowered their price objective on shares of RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd.

RLI Stock Up 0.5 %

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

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

RLI Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at RLI

In related news, Director Michael J. Stone sold 400 shares of RLI stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.78, for a total transaction of $33,910.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 429,622 shares in the company, valued at $36,421,205.05. The trade was a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $71.35 per share, for a total transaction of $356,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 139,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,931,206.50. This represents a 3.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 11,200 shares of company stock worth $805,774 over the last ninety days. 5.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLI

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RLI. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in RLI during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in RLI during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in RLI by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 203 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in RLI by 76.9% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in RLI during the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.