RLI (NYSE:RLI) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.64 EPS

RLI (NYSE:RLI) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The insurance provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.64), Zacks reports. RLI had a net margin of 23.77% and a return on equity of 19.03%.

RLI Price Performance

RLI stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $78.11. 619,160 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 490,349. RLI has a 52-week low of $67.04 and a 52-week high of $91.14. The company has a market capitalization of $7.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.17 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.80.

RLI Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is currently 12.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other RLI news, Director Michael J. Stone sold 400 shares of RLI stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.78, for a total transaction of $33,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 429,622 shares in the company, valued at $36,421,205.05. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 4.91% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on RLI shares. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of RLI in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of RLI in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of RLI from $81.00 to $82.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on RLI from $82.50 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.20.

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.