RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Raises Dividend to $0.29 Per Share

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, May 3rd, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.29 per share by the insurance provider on Thursday, June 20th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This is an increase from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27.

RLI has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.0% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 49 years. RLI has a payout ratio of 18.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect RLI to earn $5.92 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.2%.

RLI Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:RLI traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $143.57. 136,817 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 175,268. RLI has a one year low of $123.04 and a one year high of $149.20. The company has a market cap of $6.56 billion, a PE ratio of 19.83 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $144.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.21.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $444.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $460.05 million. RLI had a return on equity of 17.24% and a net margin of 20.96%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that RLI will post 5.74 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RLI has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on RLI from $160.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Compass Point lifted their target price on shares of RLI from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of RLI from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, RLI currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.25.

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.