RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Receives $82.80 Average Target Price from Brokerages

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

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Compass Point dropped their price objective on RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jeffrey D. Fick acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $72.13 per share, for a total transaction of $144,260.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 142,061 shares in the company, valued at $10,246,859.93. This trade represents a 1.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total value 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. The trade was a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 11,200 shares of company stock worth $805,774. 5.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RLI

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in shares of RLI by 8.5% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,380 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,454,000 after buying an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of RLI by 46.2% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,072 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $631,000 after buying an additional 1,286 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of RLI by 16.3% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,221 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of RLI by 2.6% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,723 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $577,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of RLI during the third quarter valued at $203,000. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

RLI Stock Performance

NYSE:RLI opened at $76.67 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $75.50 and a 200 day moving average of $79.38. The company has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.47 and a beta of 0.39. RLI has a 1-year low of $67.53 and a 1-year 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 earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.64). RLI had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 19.53%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that RLI will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. RLI’s dividend payout ratio 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.