RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Short Interest Down 15.1% in December

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 418,100 shares, a decrease of 15.1% from the November 30th total of 492,700 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 166,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on RLI shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on RLI from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Compass Point raised their price objective on shares of RLI from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of RLI from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of RLI in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $182.00 price target for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on RLI in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael J. Stone sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.55, for a total transaction of $33,910.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 214,811 shares in the company, valued at $36,421,205.05. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of RLI

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in RLI by 620.0% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 180 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of RLI during the third quarter worth $32,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in RLI by 76.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in RLI by 45.6% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 246 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, American National Bank & Trust increased its holdings in RLI by 62.5% during the 3rd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 403 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

RLI Stock Up 0.0 %

NYSE RLI traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $164.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 93,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 156,398. RLI has a twelve month low of $132.30 and a twelve month high of $182.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.11 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $168.63 and a 200 day moving average of $155.75.

Shares of RLI are going 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 payable 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $470.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $491.54 million. RLI had a net margin of 23.77% and a return on equity of 19.03%. RLI’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. On average, analysts predict that RLI will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a None dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $4.29 dividend. This is a positive change from RLI’s previous None dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.7%. RLI’s payout ratio 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.