RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $82.80.

RLI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Compass Point decreased their target price on shares of RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other RLI news, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total transaction of $214,484.96. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,745,835.68. This trade represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey D. Fick bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $72.13 per share, for a total transaction of $144,260.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 142,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,246,859.93. This trade represents a 1.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RLI

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of RLI by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,608,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $759,577,000 after acquiring an additional 41,884 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of RLI by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,393,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $680,866,000 after acquiring an additional 58,167 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its stake in shares of RLI by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,331,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $219,475,000 after acquiring an additional 19,695 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of RLI by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,024,518 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $168,907,000 after acquiring an additional 116,088 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of RLI by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 941,185 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $155,136,000 after acquiring an additional 7,609 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

RLI Stock Down 0.7 %

RLI stock opened at $75.51 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.93 billion, a PE ratio of 20.16 and a beta of 0.39. RLI has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $91.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.64). RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. Equities analysts expect that RLI will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. This is an increase from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.00%.

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.