National Interstate (NATL) Competitors

National Interstate (NASDAQ:NATL) and RLI (NYSE:RLI) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their community ranking, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, media sentiment and valuation.

Does the media favor NATL or RLI?

In the previous week, National Interstate had 2 more articles in the media than RLI. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for National Interstate and 1 mentions for RLI. RLI's average media sentiment score of 1.41 beat National Interstate's score of 0.00 indicating that RLI is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
National Interstate	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
RLI	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in NATL or RLI?

RLI received 144 more outperform votes than National Interstate when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 56.62% of users gave National Interstate an outperform vote while only 55.60% of users gave RLI an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
National Interstate	Outperform Votes 124 56.62%	Underperform Votes 95 43.38%
RLI	Outperform Votes 268 55.60%	Underperform Votes 214 44.40%

Is NATL or RLI more profitable?

RLI has a net margin of 23.77% compared to National Interstate's net margin of -2.69%. National Interstate's return on equity of 59.25% beat RLI's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
National Interstate	-2.69%	59.25%	2.80%
RLI	23.77%	19.03%	5.46%

Do institutionals and insiders believe in NATL or RLI?

88.7% of National Interstate shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.9% of RLI shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of National Interstate shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.1% of RLI shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, NATL or RLI?

RLI has lower revenue, but higher earnings than National Interstate. National Interstate is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than RLI, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
National Interstate	$4.19B	0.52	-$134M	-$1.68	-18.02
RLI	$1.78B	4.58	$304.61M	$9.10	19.53

Do analysts recommend NATL or RLI?

National Interstate currently has a consensus price target of $35.50, indicating a potential upside of 17.28%. RLI has a consensus price target of $177.40, indicating a potential downside of 0.17%. Given National Interstate's higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe National Interstate is more favorable than RLI.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
National Interstate	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
RLI	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57

Summary

RLI beats National Interstate on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.