Wolfe Research Begins Coverage on RLI (NYSE:RLI)

Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of RLI (NYSE:RLI) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $182.00 target price on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on RLI. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on RLI from $170.00 to $165.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of RLI from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Compass Point cut their price objective on shares of RLI from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and set a $162.00 target price on shares of RLI in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JMP Securities restated a market perform rating on shares of RLI in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $173.80.

RLI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RLI opened at $157.51 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $146.17. RLI has a fifty-two week low of $125.77 and a fifty-two week high of $160.47. The company has a market capitalization of $7.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.49 and a beta of 0.41.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.37. RLI had a net margin of 20.78% and a return on equity of 18.33%. The company had revenue of $416.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $561.60 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that RLI will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current year.

RLI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RLI. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in shares of RLI by 237.8% in the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 47,657 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,344,000 after buying an additional 33,550 shares in the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of RLI by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 4,583 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $610,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in RLI in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,024,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in RLI during the fourth quarter worth about $2,079,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in RLI during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,194,000. 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.