Brokerages Set RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Target Price at $78.60

Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $75.8333.

A number of brokerages have commented on RLI. Truist Financial set a $62.00 price target on shares of RLI and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th.

RLI Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of RLI stock opened at $64.60 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market capitalization of $5.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.51 and a beta of 0.60. RLI has a 12-month low of $62.04 and a 12-month high of $91.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $66.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.53.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.09. RLI had a return on equity of 15.82% and a net margin of 17.81%.The business had revenue of $562.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.72 EPS. RLI’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that RLI will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.34%.

Insider Activity at RLI

In other news, COO Jennifer L. Klobnak bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $69.15 per share, for a total transaction of $207,450.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,807,817.50. This trade represents a 3.14% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of RLI

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RLI. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of RLI by 100.0% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 19,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,569,000 after purchasing an additional 9,763 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in RLI by 99.6% in the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 112,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,046,000 after buying an additional 56,208 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in RLI by 255.2% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 11,321 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $909,000 after acquiring an additional 8,134 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its position in RLI by 105.5% in the 1st quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 253,074 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $20,329,000 after acquiring an additional 129,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its stake in shares of RLI by 100.0% during the first quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 41,476 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,070,000 after purchasing an additional 20,738 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.