RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $177.40.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on RLI. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of RLI from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Compass Point lifted their target price on shares of RLI from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of RLI in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of RLI from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLI

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of RLI during the 1st quarter valued at about $200,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of RLI in the first quarter worth $2,654,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of RLI by 52.2% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,645 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,729,000 after purchasing an additional 3,993 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its stake in shares of RLI by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 35,150 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,219,000 after buying an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Duality Advisers LP bought a new position in RLI in the 1st quarter worth $414,000. Institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

RLI Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:RLI opened at $174.95 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $157.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $149.36. The stock has a market cap of $8.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42 and a beta of 0.41. RLI has a 12 month low of $125.77 and a 12 month high of $177.79.

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

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

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a None dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $4.29 dividend. This represents a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This is an increase from RLI’s previous None dividend of $2.25. RLI’s payout ratio is 12.75%.

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.