RLI Corp. (RLI) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.15 on March 20th

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of 0.15 per share by the insurance provider on Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15.

RLI has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.8% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 50 years. RLI has a dividend payout ratio of 18.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect RLI to earn $3.11 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.58 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.6%.

RLI Stock Performance

NYSE:RLI opened at $75.16 on Friday. RLI has a 1 year low of $67.53 and a 1 year high of $91.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.18. The company has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07 and a beta of 0.46.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.64). RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. On average, analysts expect that RLI will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $71.35 per share, for a total transaction of $356,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 139,190 shares in the company, valued at $9,931,206.50. This represents a 3.73 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Stone sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.78, for a total transaction of $33,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 11,200 shares of company stock worth $805,774. 5.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of RLI from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, RLI currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.80.

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.