Brokerages Set RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Price Target at $177.40

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $177.40.

A number of research firms have weighed in on RLI. Oppenheimer began coverage on RLI in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. Compass Point lifted their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of RLI in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $182.00 target price on the stock.

Insider Transactions at RLI

In other RLI news, Director Michael J. Stone sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.55, for a total transaction of $33,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 214,811 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 at this link. 5.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RLI. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of RLI by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,485 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of RLI by 3.2% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,495 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,743,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of RLI during the second quarter worth about $113,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of RLI by 1.0% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 134,140 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $18,872,000 after buying an additional 1,286 shares during the period. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

RLI Price Performance

NYSE RLI opened at $164.83 on Monday. RLI has a one year low of $132.30 and a one year high of $182.29. The firm has a market cap of $7.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.11 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $168.85 and its 200-day moving average is $155.99.

Shares of RLI are scheduled 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 closing bell on Wednesday, January 15th.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarterly revenue was up 41.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that RLI will post 5.85 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from RLI’s previous None dividend of $2.25. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.