RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $82.80.

RLI has been the subject of several research reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of RLI in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price target on the stock.

Insider Transactions at RLI

In other RLI news, Director Michael J. Stone sold 400 shares of RLI stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.78, for a total transaction of $33,910.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 429,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,421,205.05. The trade was a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael E. Angelina purchased 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $72.62 per share, for a total transaction of $159,764.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 23,514 shares in the company, valued at $1,707,586.68. This represents a 10.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $805,774 over the last three months. Company insiders own 5.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RLI. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in RLI during the 3rd quarter valued at $217,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of RLI by 117.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 8,571 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,206,000 after purchasing an additional 4,634 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of RLI during the third quarter valued at about $3,469,000. American National Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of RLI by 62.5% in the third quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 403 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its position in RLI by 18.1% during the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 161,880 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $22,775,000 after buying an additional 24,865 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

RLI Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE RLI opened at $73.64 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $81.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.90. RLI has a 52 week low of $67.04 and a 52 week high of $91.14.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.64). RLI had a return on equity of 16.38% and a net margin of 19.53%. As a group, research analysts expect that RLI will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

RLI Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a None dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $2.145 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.7%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.49%.

RLI Company Profile

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.