RLI (NYSE:RLI) Sets New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $174.88 and last traded at $174.71, with a volume of 6865 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $173.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of RLI from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on RLI from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of RLI from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of RLI in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $182.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.40.

RLI Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $8.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.22 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $156.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.95.

RLI shares are scheduled to split on Thursday, January 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Thursday, November 7th. The newly created shares will be distributed to shareholders after the closing bell on Wednesday, January 15th.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $470.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $491.54 million. RLI had a net margin of 23.77% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 41.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that RLI Corp. will post 5.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a None dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $4.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from RLI’s previous None dividend of $2.25. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RLI. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of RLI by 585.0% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 41,649 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,184,000 after buying an additional 35,569 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in RLI by 52.2% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,645 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,729,000 after purchasing an additional 3,993 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in RLI during the 1st quarter valued at $515,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of RLI by 117.7% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 8,571 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,206,000 after buying an additional 4,634 shares during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of RLI during the first quarter valued at $236,000. 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.