Oppenheimer Begins Coverage on RLI (NYSE:RLI)

Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of RLI (NYSE:RLI) in a report issued on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a market perform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on RLI. Compass Point dropped their price objective on shares of RLI from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on RLI from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on RLI in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $182.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of RLI from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.80.

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of RLI stock opened at $162.98 on Wednesday. RLI has a 52 week low of $125.77 and a 52 week high of $164.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.46 billion, a PE ratio of 22.23 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $153.60 and its 200-day moving average is $146.74.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.37. RLI had a net margin of 20.78% and a return on equity of 18.33%. The firm had revenue of $416.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $561.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that RLI will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.83%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RLI

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in RLI by 5.8% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in RLI by 3.8% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,502 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of RLI by 3.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,875 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $601,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in shares of RLI by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 25,815 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,832,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

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.