RLI’s (RLI) “Market Perform” Rating Reaffirmed at JMP Securities

JMP Securities restated their market perform rating on shares of RLI (NYSE:RLI) in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Compass Point upped their price objective on RLI from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on RLI from $170.00 to $165.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an outperform rating and issued a $168.00 target price on shares of RLI in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on RLI from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $164.50.

RLI Trading Up 3.0 %

RLI opened at $147.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $141.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $142.82. RLI has a 12-month low of $125.77 and a 12-month high of $149.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31 and a beta of 0.41.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.37. RLI had a return on equity of 18.33% and a net margin of 20.78%. The firm had revenue of $416.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $561.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that RLI will post 5.84 EPS for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is a positive change from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.02%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RLI. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in RLI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. American National Bank bought a new position in RLI during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in RLI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in RLI during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Intelligent Financial Strategies bought a new position in RLI during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 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.