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

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $61.50.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on RLI. Wall Street Zen cut RLI from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded RLI from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on RLI from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded RLI from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut RLI from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd.

Insider Activity at RLI

In related news, COO Jennifer L. Klobnak purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $53.42 per share, for a total transaction of $106,840.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer owned 102,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,465,827.56. This represents a 1.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David B. Duclos purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $51.99 per share, with a total value of $129,975.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $508,462.20. This represents a 34.34% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have purchased a total of 16,500 shares of company stock valued at $858,955 over the last three months. 2.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of RLI by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 274,777 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $17,921,000 after buying an additional 20,438 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of RLI by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,422,596 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $92,782,000 after buying an additional 191,020 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of RLI by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 607,176 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $38,847,000 after buying an additional 48,563 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of RLI by 1,030.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 34,009 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,176,000 after buying an additional 31,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of RLI by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,448,929 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $604,542,000 after buying an additional 310,857 shares in the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

RLI Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of RLI stock opened at $52.43 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.88. RLI has a 1 year low of $47.26 and a 1 year high of $76.41.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $423.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $564.47 million. RLI had a return on equity of 17.72% and a net margin of 20.81%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that RLI will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This is a boost from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.82%.

About RLI

RLI Corporation (NYSE:RLI) is a specialty property and casualty insurance company focused on underwriting niche risks for businesses and individuals. Headquartered in Peoria, Illinois, the company operates through a network of independent agents and brokers, offering customized coverage solutions. RLI’s approach emphasizes disciplined underwriting, targeted product development and strong customer service to maintain profitability and long-term growth.

Founded in 1965 as Replacement Lens, Inc, RLI initially provided insurance for contact lens manufacturers before shifting its focus to specialty insurance in the 1980s.