Zacks Research Comments on RLI's Q1 Earnings (NYSE:RLI)

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) - Research analysts at Zacks Research decreased their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for RLI in a report issued on Tuesday, April 22nd. Zacks Research analyst T. De now anticipates that the insurance provider will post earnings per share of $0.89 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.91. The consensus estimate for RLI's current full-year earnings is $3.08 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for RLI's FY2025 earnings at $3.05 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.74 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.73 EPS and Q1 2027 earnings at $0.76 EPS.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $442.20 million. RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on RLI. Compass Point downgraded RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of RLI from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Thursday. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $78.60.

RLI Price Performance

Shares of RLI traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $73.30. 70,124 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 359,282. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.38. The company has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a PE ratio of 19.57 and a beta of 0.49. 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 has a one year low of $68.50 and a one year high of $91.15.

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a boost from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. RLI's payout ratio is currently 19.74%.

Insider Transactions at RLI

In other RLI news, Director David B. Duclos bought 2,000 shares of RLI stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $72.50 per share, for a total transaction of $145,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,215 shares of the company's stock, valued at $523,087.50. The trade was a 38.35 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total transaction of $214,484.96. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,745,835.68. This trade represents a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLI

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in RLI by 2.0% during 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 position in shares of RLI during the 4th quarter valued at about $728,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in RLI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,854,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in RLI during the fourth quarter worth approximately $840,000. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC bought a new stake in RLI during the fourth 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.