RLI (NYSE:RLI) Downgraded to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of RLI (NYSE:RLI) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Monday.

RLI has been the subject of a number of other reports. Compass Point cut shares of RLI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, RLI has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.60.

RLI Stock Performance

NYSE:RLI opened at $73.89 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.34. The company has a fifty day moving average of $76.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.73 and a beta of 0.49. RLI has a fifty-two week low of $68.50 and a fifty-two week high of $91.15.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $36.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $442.20 million. RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that RLI will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is an increase from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. RLI’s payout ratio is 19.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at RLI

In other news, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total transaction of $214,484.96. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,745,835.68. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David B. Duclos acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $72.50 per share, for a total transaction of $145,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $523,087.50. This trade represents a 38.35 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of RLI

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of RLI. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of RLI by 2.3% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,545 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $704,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in RLI in the third quarter valued at $1,193,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in RLI by 3.9% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 115,569 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $17,911,000 after buying an additional 4,322 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in RLI by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 203 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in RLI by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $171,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.89% of the company’s stock.

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.