JMP Securities Reiterates Market Perform Rating for RLI (NYSE:RLI)

JMP Securities reaffirmed their market perform rating on shares of RLI (NYSE:RLI) in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on RLI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on RLI in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on RLI from $81.00 to $82.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Compass Point raised their price target on shares of RLI from $85.00 to $92.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of RLI from $82.50 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.20.

RLI Trading Down 7.9 %

RLI stock opened at $71.86 on Thursday. RLI has a 12 month low of $67.04 and a 12 month high of $91.14. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.80. The company has a market capitalization of $6.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79 and a beta of 0.47.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.64). RLI had a net margin of 23.77% and a return on equity of 19.03%. On average, equities research analysts predict that RLI will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

RLI Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a None dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $2.145 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.75%.

Insider Activity at RLI

In other RLI news, Director Michael J. Stone sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.78, for a total value of $33,910.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 429,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,421,205.05. This trade 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 accessible through this hyperlink. 5.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RLI

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in RLI by 12.9% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 74,613 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,497,000 after buying an additional 8,529 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in RLI in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,053,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in RLI by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,633 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $230,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in RLI by 10.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 5,148 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $724,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of RLI by 117.7% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 8,571 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,206,000 after purchasing an additional 4,634 shares during the period. 77.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.