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

Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $163.25.

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of RLI from $160.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Tuesday. Compass Point upped their price target on shares of RLI from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of RLI from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLI

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of RLI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in RLI by 1.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,082,470 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $147,097,000 after acquiring an additional 11,965 shares during the period. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in RLI by 18.1% during the third quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 526,679 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $71,570,000 after acquiring an additional 80,552 shares during the period. Maren Capital LLC bought a new stake in RLI during the fourth quarter valued at about $67,149,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in RLI by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 411,787 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $54,817,000 after acquiring an additional 11,255 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in RLI by 0.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 395,547 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $53,751,000 after acquiring an additional 3,562 shares during the period. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

RLI Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:RLI traded up $1.95 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $147.71. 219,425 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 177,028. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $144.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. RLI has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $149.20. The firm has a market cap of $6.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31 and a beta of 0.37.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.26. RLI had a net margin of 20.96% and a return on equity of 17.77%. The company had revenue of $444.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $460.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that RLI will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current year.

RLI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.31%.

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.