Analysts Set RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Target Price at $177.40

Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $177.40.

RLI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Compass Point upped their target price on RLI from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wolfe Research began coverage on RLI in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $182.00 target price on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of RLI in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of RLI from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLI

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in RLI in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,817,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of RLI by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 73,464 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $11,385,000 after purchasing an additional 10,841 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in shares of RLI by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 5,335 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $827,000 after purchasing an additional 2,668 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in RLI by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,644 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P raised its stake in RLI by 3.8% in the third quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 12,382 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,919,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

RLI Price Performance

NYSE RLI opened at $174.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.02 billion, a PE ratio of 19.42 and a beta of 0.41. RLI has a 1-year low of $125.77 and a 1-year high of $177.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $157.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $149.36.

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

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $470.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $491.54 million. RLI had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 23.77%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that RLI will post 5.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a None dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $4.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This is an increase from RLI’s previous None dividend of $2.25. This represents a dividend yield of 0.7%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.75%.

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.