Jefferies Financial Group Initiates Coverage on RLI (NYSE:RLI)

Equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of RLI (NYSE:RLI) in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 16.67% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on RLI. Compass Point raised their price objective on shares of RLI from $165.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of RLI in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of RLI stock opened at $132.85 on Thursday. RLI has a 52-week low of $100.96 and a 52-week high of $149.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $133.14. The company has a market capitalization of $6.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 0.42.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.03). RLI had a return on equity of 16.97% and a net margin of 36.31%. The business had revenue of $381.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $358.35 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.49 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that RLI will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RLI

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RLI. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of RLI during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in RLI in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. West Tower Group LLC bought a new stake in RLI in the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. HM Payson & Co. bought a new stake in RLI in the 1st quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in RLI by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 376 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.23% of the company’s stock.

RLI Company Profile

RLI Corp., an insurance holding company, underwrites property and casualty insurance in the United States and internationally. 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.