RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Raises Dividend to $0.15 Per Share

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of 0.15 per share by the insurance provider on Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15.

RLI has raised its dividend by an average of 4.8% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 50 years. RLI has a dividend payout ratio of 18.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect RLI to earn $3.11 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.58 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.6%.

RLI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RLI traded up $0.06 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $75.20. 35,599 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 560,302. RLI has a fifty-two week low of $67.53 and a fifty-two week high of $91.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.11 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.25.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.64). RLI had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 19.53%. As a group, analysts predict that RLI will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at RLI

In other RLI news, Director David B. Duclos purchased 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 in the company, valued at approximately $523,087.50. The trade was a 38.35 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael J. Stone sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.78, for a total transaction of $33,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 429,622 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,421,205.05. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774 over the last quarter. 5.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on RLI shares. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Compass Point decreased their target price on shares of RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased 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, StockNews.com lowered shares of RLI from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $82.80.

RLI Company Profile

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.