RLI (NYSE:RLI) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLI (NYSE:RLI) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday.

RLI has been the topic of several other research reports. Compass Point dropped their price target on RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.80.

RLI Price Performance

RLI stock opened at $74.59 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.24. The company has a market capitalization of $6.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.92 and a beta of 0.46. RLI has a twelve month low of $67.53 and a twelve month high of $91.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts anticipate that RLI will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a positive change from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. RLI’s payout ratio is presently 16.00%.

Insider Transactions at RLI

In related news, Director David B. Duclos bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $72.50 per share, with a total value of $145,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 7,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $523,087.50. This represents a 38.35 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes purchased 5,000 shares of RLI stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $71.35 per share, with a total value of $356,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 139,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,931,206.50. This trade represents a 3.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774 in the last ninety days. 5.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RLI. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in RLI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $217,000. Donaldson Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RLI in the third quarter valued at about $3,469,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of RLI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $840,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of RLI by 46.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,790 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of RLI by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 36,613 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,035,000 after purchasing an additional 9,320 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.