RLI (NYSE:RLI) Cut to “Hold” at Compass Point

RLI (NYSE:RLI) was downgraded by investment analysts at Compass Point from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut RLI from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. 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 note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.60.

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of RLI stock opened at $72.99 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.37. RLI has a 12 month low of $68.50 and a 12 month high of $91.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.49 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. RLI had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The company had revenue of $36.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $442.20 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that RLI will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value of $112,155.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,854 shares in the company, valued at $961,093.58. The trade was a 10.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total transaction of $214,484.96. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,745,835.68. This trade represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of RLI

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in RLI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $80,476,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of RLI by 580.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 415,247 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $68,445,000 after acquiring an additional 354,219 shares in the last quarter. Nepsis Inc. lifted its position in shares of RLI by 138.8% in the fourth quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 296,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,876,000 after acquiring an additional 172,370 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of RLI by 15,376.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 160,178 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,867,000 after acquiring an additional 159,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in RLI by 111.3% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 244,502 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,641,000 after purchasing an additional 128,802 shares in the last quarter. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.