RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Increases Dividend to $4.29 Per Share

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) declared a None dividend on Thursday, November 7th,Zacks Dividends reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of 4.29 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, December 20th. This represents a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This is an increase from RLI’s previous None dividend of $2.25.

RLI has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 50 years. RLI has a dividend payout ratio of 18.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect RLI to earn $6.28 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.5%.

RLI Price Performance

NYSE:RLI opened at $180.24 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $162.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.63. RLI has a fifty-two week low of $125.77 and a fifty-two week high of $182.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.26 billion, a PE ratio of 19.81 and a beta of 0.41.

Shares of RLI are going to split on the morning of Thursday, January 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Thursday, November 7th. The newly minted shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Wednesday, January 15th.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $470.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $491.54 million. RLI had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 23.77%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 41.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that RLI will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Compass Point lifted their price target on shares of RLI from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of RLI from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of RLI in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $182.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on RLI from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on RLI in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.40.

About RLI

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.