RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com 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 updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $173.80.

RLI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $162.00 price objective on shares of RLI in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Compass Point cut their price objective on shares of RLI from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of RLI from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of RLI from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RLI

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in RLI during the fourth quarter worth about $1,194,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda grew its position in shares of RLI by 57.6% in the 4th quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda now owns 939 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its position in shares of RLI by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 20,337 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,019,000 after purchasing an additional 2,560 shares during the period. Nepsis Inc. increased its stake in RLI by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 91,455 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,578,000 after purchasing an additional 20,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in RLI in the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

RLI Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:RLI opened at $162.99 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.51 and a beta of 0.41. RLI has a 12 month low of $125.77 and a 12 month high of $164.25. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $153.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $416.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $561.60 million. RLI had a return on equity of 18.33% and a net margin of 20.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that RLI will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.02%.

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.