RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

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

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point cut their price target on RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st.

RLI Stock Performance

RLI stock opened at $76.31 on Friday. RLI has a fifty-two week low of $67.53 and a fifty-two week high of $91.15. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $7.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.38 and a beta of 0.39.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.64). RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. As a group, analysts expect that RLI will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is an increase from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.00%.

Insider Activity at RLI

In other RLI news, insider Jeffrey D. Fick purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $72.13 per share, with a total value of $144,260.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 142,061 shares in the company, valued at $10,246,859.93. This trade represents a 1.43 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael E. Angelina acquired 2,200 shares of RLI stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $72.62 per share, with a total value of $159,764.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 23,514 shares in the company, valued at $1,707,586.68. This represents a 10.32 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774. 5.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RLI. Norges Bank bought a new stake in RLI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $80,476,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of RLI by 580.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 415,247 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $68,445,000 after acquiring an additional 354,219 shares during the period. Nepsis Inc. increased its position in RLI by 138.8% during the fourth quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 296,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,876,000 after acquiring an additional 172,370 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in RLI by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,024,518 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $168,907,000 after acquiring an additional 116,088 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in RLI in the fourth quarter worth about $17,854,000. 77.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.