RLI (NYSE:RLI) Cut to “Underperform” at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of RLI (NYSE:RLI) from a buy rating to an underperform rating in a research report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $61.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock, down from their prior price target of $95.00.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on RLI. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Compass Point upped their price objective on shares of RLI from $85.00 to $92.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on RLI in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on RLI in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.80.

RLI Price Performance

Shares of RLI opened at $72.27 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.95. RLI has a one year low of $67.04 and a one year high of $91.14. The company has a market capitalization of $6.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30 and a beta of 0.47.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.64). RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.38%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that RLI will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLI Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a None dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $2.145 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a yield of 0.7%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.49%.

Insider Activity at RLI

In related news, Director Michael E. Angelina bought 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $72.62 per share, for a total transaction of $159,764.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,707,586.68. This represents a 10.32 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Michael J. Stone sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.78, for a total value of $33,910.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 429,622 shares in the company, valued at $36,421,205.05. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 9,200 shares of company stock valued at $660,774 over the last quarter. 5.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLI

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in RLI by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 7,879 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of RLI by 1.2% during the third quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 5,757 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $892,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in RLI by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 203 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in RLI by 5.8% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,633 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in RLI by 2.6% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,723 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $577,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.