RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Receives $78.60 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $78.60.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on RLI shares. StockNews.com raised RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of RLI from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Compass Point downgraded RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th.

RLI Price Performance

RLI stock traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $74.64. The company had a trading volume of 54,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 490,506. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.00. The company has a market cap of $6.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. RLI has a fifty-two week low of $68.50 and a fifty-two week high of $91.14.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $36.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $442.20 million. RLI had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 19.53%. RLI's quarterly revenue was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that RLI will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. RLI's payout ratio is 19.74%.

Insider Transactions at RLI

In other news, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total value of $214,484.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,312 shares in the company, valued at $1,745,835.68. This trade represents a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value of $112,155.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at $961,093.58. The trade was a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.16% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of RLI

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RLI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of RLI by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 471,752 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $77,759,000 after buying an additional 9,131 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of RLI in the 4th quarter worth about $728,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in RLI in the 4th quarter valued at about $17,854,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in RLI during the 4th quarter valued at about $840,000. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC bought a new stake in RLI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,199,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company's stock.

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.