RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Receives $91.20 Average Target Price from Analysts

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $82.80.

A number of research firms recently commented on RLI. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target 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. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of RLI in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of RLI in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of RLI from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, January 23rd.

Insider Transactions at RLI

In other news, Director Michael J. Stone sold 400 shares of RLI stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.78, for a total value of $33,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 429,622 shares in the company, valued at $36,421,205.05. The trade was a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 price of $71.35 per share, with a total value of $356,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,931,206.50. This trade represents a 3.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 11,200 shares of company stock worth $805,774 over the last ninety days. 5.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of RLI

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in RLI by 620.0% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 180 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in RLI during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of RLI during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of RLI by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 203 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of RLI by 76.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

RLI Stock Up 1.9 %

RLI stock opened at $73.64 on Friday. RLI has a twelve month low of $67.04 and a twelve month high of $91.14. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $81.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.90. The stock has a market cap of $6.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 0.47.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 16.38%. Equities analysts anticipate that RLI will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a None dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $2.145 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a yield of 0.7%. RLI’s payout ratio is 15.49%.

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.