RLI (NYSE:RLI) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• RLI was upgraded from a "sell" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen in a recent research note, while Compass Point also downgraded the stock to a "hold".
• Analysts project a consensus rating of "Hold" for RLI, with an average target price of $78.60.
• RLI reported strong quarterly earnings, exceeding estimates with $0.84 EPS against a consensus of $0.75, and a revenue of $562.28 million, up 20% year-over-year.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of RLI (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on RLI. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Compass Point cut RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $78.60.

RLI Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE RLI traded up $0.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $66.66. The stock had a trading volume of 760,214 shares, compared to its average volume of 737,587. RLI has a fifty-two week low of $66.25 and a fifty-two week high of $91.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35. The business's 50-day moving average price is $72.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.56. The company has a market cap of $6.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.10 and a beta of 0.67.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.09. RLI had a return on equity of 15.82% and a net margin of 17.81%. The firm had revenue of $562.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $445.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. RLI's revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that RLI will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. This is an increase from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. RLI's payout ratio is 18.34%.

Insider Transactions at RLI

In other RLI news, COO Jennifer L. Klobnak purchased 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $69.15 per share, with a total value of $207,450.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,807,817.50. This represents a 3.14% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of RLI

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vista Finance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of RLI by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 4,655 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of RLI by 228.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 140,971 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $10,181,000 after purchasing an additional 98,049 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of RLI by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 44,909 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,438 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of RLI by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 7,104 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curated Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of RLI by 63.2% in the 2nd quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,047 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 2,341 shares during the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.