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. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This is a positive change 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 increased its dividend annually for the last 50 consecutive 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 Trading Up 0.6 %

RLI opened at $180.89 on Wednesday. RLI has a 12-month low of $125.77 and a 12-month high of $181.64. The company has a market cap of $8.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $162.35 and its 200 day moving average is $151.43.

RLI shares are set to split before the market opens on Thursday, January 16th. The 2-1 split was announced on Thursday, November 7th. The newly created shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Wednesday, January 15th.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.33. RLI had a net margin of 23.77% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The company had revenue of $470.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $491.54 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. RLI’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that RLI will post 5.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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