RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Receives $177.40 Consensus PT from Analysts

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $177.40.

RLI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on RLI in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $182.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of RLI in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of RLI from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Compass Point lifted their price objective on shares of RLI from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of RLI from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:RLI traded down $0.26 on Thursday, hitting $172.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 123,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 154,505. RLI has a 12 month low of $125.77 and a 12 month high of $182.29. The company has a market capitalization of $7.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.99 and a beta of 0.46. The stock's 50-day moving average is $165.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $152.78.

RLI shares are scheduled to split on Thursday, January 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Thursday, November 7th. The newly minted shares will be distributed to shareholders after the closing bell on Wednesday, January 15th.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $470.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $491.54 million. RLI had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 23.77%. The company's revenue was up 41.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that RLI will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a None dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $4.29 per share. This is a positive change from RLI's previous None dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a yield of 0.7%. RLI's payout ratio is currently 12.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of RLI during the third quarter valued at about $9,931,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of RLI during the third quarter valued at about $9,458,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of RLI by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,393,250 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $680,866,000 after buying an additional 58,167 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of RLI by 5.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 908,430 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $140,817,000 after buying an additional 50,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of RLI during the third quarter valued at about $5,817,000. 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.