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

Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $177.40.

RLI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on RLI from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on RLI in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of RLI in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $182.00 price target for the company. Compass Point lifted their price target on shares of RLI from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of RLI from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th.

Institutional Trading of RLI

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in shares of RLI in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,193,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of RLI by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 6,034 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $935,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of RLI by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,545 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $704,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of RLI by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,649 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,116,000 after acquiring an additional 571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of RLI by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 908,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $140,817,000 after acquiring an additional 50,654 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

RLI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RLI opened at $173.03 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50-day moving average of $165.11 and a 200-day moving average of $152.64. RLI has a fifty-two week low of $125.77 and a fifty-two week high of $182.29.

RLI’s stock is going to split on the morning of 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $470.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that RLI will post 5.85 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a None dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $4.29 dividend. This is a boost from RLI’s previous None dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.7%. RLI’s payout ratio is currently 12.75%.

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.