RLI (NYSE:RLI) Given Outperform Rating at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated their outperform rating on shares of RLI (NYSE:RLI) in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $168.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on RLI. Compass Point boosted their target price on shares of RLI from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of RLI from $170.00 to $165.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of RLI from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $165.75.

RLI Stock Performance

RLI opened at $142.24 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $143.51 and a 200-day moving average of $141.62. The company has a market capitalization of $6.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65 and a beta of 0.41. RLI has a 1-year low of $125.77 and a 1-year high of $149.20.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $444.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $460.05 million. RLI had a net margin of 20.96% and a return on equity of 17.24%. The company’s revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that RLI will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. This is a positive change from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. RLI’s payout ratio is presently 16.02%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RLI. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in RLI during the 3rd quarter valued at about $661,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of RLI by 28.2% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 76,124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,344,000 after acquiring an additional 16,725 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of RLI by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 102,958 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,991,000 after acquiring an additional 17,001 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of RLI by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 395,547 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $53,751,000 after acquiring an additional 3,562 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of RLI in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,730,000. 77.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.