RLI (NYSE:RLI) Lowered 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 published on Monday morning.

RLI has been the topic of several other research reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on RLI in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday. Compass Point reduced their price target on shares of RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, RLI presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.80.

RLI Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of RLI stock opened at $72.27 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $82.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30 and a beta of 0.47. RLI has a 52 week low of $67.04 and a 52 week high of $91.14.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last posted 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 return on equity of 16.38% and a net margin of 19.53%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that RLI will post 3.13 earnings per share 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 given a $2.145 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a yield of 0.7%. RLI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.49%.

Insider Activity

In other RLI news, insider Jeffrey D. Fick purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $72.13 per share, for a total transaction of $144,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 142,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,246,859.93. This trade represents a 1.43 % increase in their position. The transaction 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 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 429,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,421,205.05. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 9,200 shares of company stock valued at $660,774 in the last three months. 5.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in RLI during the third quarter worth $217,000. Donaldson Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RLI during the third quarter worth about $3,469,000. American National Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of RLI by 62.5% during the 3rd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 403 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in RLI by 18.1% in the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 161,880 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $22,775,000 after buying an additional 24,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurus Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in RLI by 53.2% in the 3rd quarter. Laurus Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 10,280 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,593,000 after buying an additional 3,570 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.