RLI (NYSE:RLI) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday. The stock traded as high as $67.30 and last traded at $67.1670, with a volume of 257,805 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $65.23.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RLI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up from $69.00) on shares of RLI in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 target price on RLI and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. UBS Group set a $74.00 price target on shares of RLI in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of RLI from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $62.40.

RLI Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.08 and a beta of 0.31. The business has a fifty day moving average of $60.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.81.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 19th. The insurance provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $476.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $533.51 million. RLI had a return on equity of 18.19% and a net margin of 20.34%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that RLI Corp. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

RLI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLI

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of RLI in the second quarter valued at approximately $492,175,000. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in RLI by 40.7% in the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,631,273 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $214,499,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051,318 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of RLI by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 2,421,922 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $133,957,000 after acquiring an additional 27,378 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in RLI by 1.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,920,823 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $109,567,000 after purchasing an additional 21,299 shares during the period. Finally, Maren Capital LLC raised its position in shares of RLI by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Maren Capital LLC now owns 1,817,370 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $107,352,000 after buying an additional 28,366 shares during the period. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About RLI

RLI Corp. (NYSE: RLI) is a specialty insurance company that underwrites property and casualty insurance products for commercial and personal customers. The company focuses on specialized risks that may not be adequately served by standard insurance carriers.

RLI’s offerings include commercial property and casualty coverage, professional liability insurance, surety bonds, transportation-related insurance, and personal lines such as homeowners and personal umbrella coverage. Its products are distributed through independent agents, brokers, and other insurance intermediaries.

Founded in 1965 and headquartered in Peoria, Illinois, RLI serves customers primarily throughout the United States.