William Blair Issues Optimistic Estimate for RLI Earnings

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) - Equities researchers at William Blair boosted their Q4 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of RLI in a report released on Thursday, April 24th. William Blair analyst A. Klauber now anticipates that the insurance provider will post earnings of $0.83 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.81. The consensus estimate for RLI's current full-year earnings is $3.08 per share.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Compass Point downgraded shares of RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered RLI from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $78.60.

RLI Price Performance

NYSE:RLI opened at $72.99 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $6.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.49 and a beta of 0.49. RLI has a 12-month low of $68.50 and a 12-month high of $91.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company's 50-day moving average is $76.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.38.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $36.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $442.20 million. RLI had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 19.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLI

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RLI. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of RLI by 99.6% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 112,616 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $9,046,000 after buying an additional 56,208 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in RLI by 91.4% during the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 39,388 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,164,000 after acquiring an additional 18,808 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in RLI by 103.4% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,641 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,851 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of RLI by 100.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 372 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of RLI by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 19,526 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,569,000 after buying an additional 9,763 shares in the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at RLI

In other news, Director David B. Duclos purchased 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was acquired 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 owns 7,215 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $523,087.50. This trade represents a 38.35 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value of $112,155.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $961,093.58. This represents a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

RLI Increases Dividend

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

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.

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