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

Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $177.40.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of RLI in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of RLI from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on RLI from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Compass Point increased their target price on RLI from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLI

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in RLI by 2.7% during the third quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 60,997 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,453,000 after buying an additional 1,594 shares during the last quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of RLI by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. now owns 264,288 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,959,000 after acquiring an additional 25,600 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its position in shares of RLI by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 85,199 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $13,205,000 after acquiring an additional 4,324 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of RLI by 39.8% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 8,868 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after purchasing an additional 2,526 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in RLI by 0.5% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 813,719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $126,110,000 after purchasing an additional 4,330 shares during the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RLI opened at $172.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.89 billion, a PE ratio of 18.91 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $156.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $148.73. RLI has a 1 year low of $125.77 and a 1 year high of $173.02.

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

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. RLI had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 23.77%. The firm had revenue of $470.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $491.54 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. RLI’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that RLI will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a None dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $4.29 dividend. This is a positive change from RLI’s previous None dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.