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

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat 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 target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $177.40.

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

Institutional Trading of RLI

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in shares of RLI by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 7,879 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of RLI by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 5,757 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $892,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of RLI by 45.6% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 246 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of RLI by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,633 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of RLI by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,502 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

RLI Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of RLI opened at $173.03 on Thursday. RLI has a 1 year low of $125.77 and a 1 year high of $182.29. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.64. The stock has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01 and a beta of 0.46.

RLI shares are set to split before the market opens on Thursday, January 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Thursday, November 7th. The newly issued shares will be distributed to shareholders after the closing bell on Wednesday, January 15th.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $470.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that RLI will post 5.85 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $4.29 per share. This represents a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This is an increase from RLI’s previous None dividend of $2.25. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.