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

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday. The company 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

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered RLI from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $53.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. UBS Group set a $74.00 price objective on RLI in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded RLI from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $62.40.

RLI Stock Up 3.4%

The stock has a market capitalization of $6.19 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72 and a beta of 0.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $60.67 and its 200-day moving average is $58.69.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 19th. The insurance provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.32. RLI had a return on equity of 18.19% and a net margin of 20.34%. The company had revenue of $476.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $533.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. On average, analysts expect that RLI Corp. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

RLI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of RLI during the 2nd quarter worth $492,175,000. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of 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 period. Markel Group Inc. grew its position in RLI by 1.1% during the third quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 2,421,922 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $133,957,000 after buying an additional 27,378 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in RLI by 1.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,920,823 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $109,567,000 after buying an additional 21,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maren Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of RLI by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Maren Capital LLC now owns 1,817,370 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $107,352,000 after acquiring an additional 28,366 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

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.