RLI (NYSE:RLI) Sets New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on the stock from $169.00 to $175.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the stock. RLI traded as high as $150.20 and last traded at $150.00, with a volume of 18733 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $147.22.

RLI has been the topic of several other reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of RLI in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Compass Point dropped their price target on RLI from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of RLI from $170.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RLI

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commerce Bank increased its stake in shares of RLI by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 4,419 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $588,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in shares of RLI by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,259 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in shares of RLI by 0.5% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 25,815 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,832,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of RLI by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of RLI by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,436 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $659,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

RLI Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $142.99. The firm has a market cap of $6.88 billion, a PE ratio of 20.53 and a beta of 0.41.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $416.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $561.60 million. RLI had a return on equity of 18.33% and a net margin of 20.78%. RLI’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that RLI Corp. will post 6.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is a boost from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.02%.

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.