RLI (NYSE:RLI) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

RLI (NYSE:RLI) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on RLI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Compass Point lowered their price objective on shares of RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.80.

RLI Stock Down 0.1 %

RLI stock opened at $74.59 on Friday. RLI has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $91.14. The firm has a market cap of $6.84 billion, a PE ratio of 19.92 and a beta of 0.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $77.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.34.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.64). RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that RLI will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other RLI news, Director Michael J. Stone sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.78, for a total transaction of $33,910.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 429,622 shares in the company, valued at $36,421,205.05. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes purchased 5,000 shares of RLI stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $71.35 per share, for a total transaction of $356,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,190 shares in the company, valued at $9,931,206.50. This represents a 3.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 11,200 shares of company stock worth $805,774. Corporate insiders own 5.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RLI. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of RLI in the 3rd quarter valued at $217,000. Donaldson Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in RLI in the third quarter valued at $3,469,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in RLI during the 4th quarter worth about $840,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of RLI by 46.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,790 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of RLI by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 36,613 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,035,000 after acquiring an additional 9,320 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

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.