RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Short Interest Down 15.1% in December

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 418,100 shares, a drop of 15.1% from the November 30th total of 492,700 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 166,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. 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. Oppenheimer began coverage on RLI in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of RLI in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $182.00 price objective on the stock. Compass Point lifted their price target on shares of RLI from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of RLI from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, RLI has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.40.

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of RLI stock traded down $1.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $165.89. 77,281 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 156,828. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.23 and a beta of 0.46. RLI has a one year low of $132.01 and a one year high of $182.29. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.47.

RLI shares are going to split before the market opens on Thursday, January 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Thursday, November 7th. The newly created shares will be issued to shareholders after the market closes on Wednesday, January 15th.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.33. The firm 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 last year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, 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 was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $4.29 per share. This is a positive change from RLI’s previous None dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a yield of 0.7%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is 12.75%.

Insider Transactions at RLI

In other news, Director Michael J. Stone sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.55, for a total value of $33,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 214,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,421,205.05. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RLI

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in RLI by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 115,569 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $17,911,000 after buying an additional 4,322 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in shares of RLI during the third quarter valued at $1,193,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of RLI by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 6,034 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $935,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in RLI by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,545 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $704,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in RLI by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,649 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,116,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the period. 77.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.