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Why Is RLI Corp (RLI) Down 2.8% Since the Last Earnings Report?
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A month has gone by since the last earnings report for RLI Corp. (RLI - Free Report) . Shares have lost about 2.8% in that time frame, underperforming the market.
Will the recent negative trend continue leading up to the stock's next earnings release, or is it due for a breakout? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at its most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts.
RLI Corp (RLI - Free Report) Earnings and Revenues Beat Estimates in Q4
RLI Corp.’s fourth-quarter 2016 operating earnings of $0.56 per share outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 19.1%. The bottom line remained flat with the prior-year quarter.
Including realized loss of $0.16 per share, net income fell 5.3% year over year to $0.72 per share.
Full-Year 2016
RLI Corp.’s full-year 2016 operating earnings came in at $2.08 per share compared with $2.53 in 2015.
Full-year revenues of $781.7 million improved 3.6% year over year due to a rise in net premiums earned.
Operational Performance
Operating revenues for the quarter totaled $201 million, up 4.1% year over year. Revenues beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $198 million by 1.5%.
Gross premiums written grew 2.9% year over year to $206.4 million on strong performance by the Casualty segment. However, the upside was partially limited by weakness in the Property and Surety segments.
Total expenses increased 7.8% year over year to $174.3 million due to higher loss and settlement expenses and policy acquisition costs.
Underwriting income of this Property and Casualty (P&C) insurer declined 19.1% year over year to $18.2 million. Underwriting income deteriorated due to weakness at the Property and Surety segments. Combined ratio deteriorated 290 basis points year over year to 90.3%.
RLI Corp.’s net investment income declined 4.6% year over year to $13.2 million. Total return in the investment portfolio was (1.2%), while bond portfolio retuned (2.3%). Equity portfolio returned 3.9%.
Financial Update
RLI Corp. exited the fourth quarter with total investments and cash of $2.02 billion, up 3.6% from year-end 2015.
Book value was $18.74 per share as of Dec 31, 2016, down 0.9% from that as of Dec 31, 2015.
Long-term debt was $148.7 million, up 0.1% from the 2015-end level.
Statutory surplus decreased 0.6% year over year to $859.9 million.
Dividend Payout
As of Dec 23, 2016, the P&C insurer paid a special dividend of $2.00 per share. This dividend payment resulted in a tax benefit of $2.4 million ($0.05 per share).
In addition, RLI Corp. paid quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share. The insurer has paid more than $1.2 billion to investors over the last 10 years.
How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?
Analysts were quiet during the last two month period as none of them issued any earnings estimate revisions.
At this time, RLI Corp.'s stock has a subpar Growth score of 'D', however its momentum is doing a bit better with a 'C'. Charting a somewhat similar path, the stock was allocated a grade of 'D' on the value side, putting it in the bottom 40% for this investment strategy.
Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of 'D'. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.
The company's stock is suitable solely for momentum based on our styles scores.
Outlook
The stock has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We are expecting an inline return from the stock in the next few months.
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Why Is RLI Corp (RLI) Down 2.8% Since the Last Earnings Report?
A month has gone by since the last earnings report for RLI Corp. (RLI - Free Report) . Shares have lost about 2.8% in that time frame, underperforming the market.
Will the recent negative trend continue leading up to the stock's next earnings release, or is it due for a breakout? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at its most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts.
RLI Corp (RLI - Free Report) Earnings and Revenues Beat Estimates in Q4
RLI Corp.’s fourth-quarter 2016 operating earnings of $0.56 per share outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 19.1%. The bottom line remained flat with the prior-year quarter.
Including realized loss of $0.16 per share, net income fell 5.3% year over year to $0.72 per share.
Full-Year 2016
RLI Corp.’s full-year 2016 operating earnings came in at $2.08 per share compared with $2.53 in 2015.
Full-year revenues of $781.7 million improved 3.6% year over year due to a rise in net premiums earned.
Operational Performance
Operating revenues for the quarter totaled $201 million, up 4.1% year over year. Revenues beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $198 million by 1.5%.
Gross premiums written grew 2.9% year over year to $206.4 million on strong performance by the Casualty segment. However, the upside was partially limited by weakness in the Property and Surety segments.
Total expenses increased 7.8% year over year to $174.3 million due to higher loss and settlement expenses and policy acquisition costs.
Underwriting income of this Property and Casualty (P&C) insurer declined 19.1% year over year to $18.2 million. Underwriting income deteriorated due to weakness at the Property and Surety segments. Combined ratio deteriorated 290 basis points year over year to 90.3%.
RLI Corp.’s net investment income declined 4.6% year over year to $13.2 million. Total return in the investment portfolio was (1.2%), while bond portfolio retuned (2.3%). Equity portfolio returned 3.9%.
Financial Update
RLI Corp. exited the fourth quarter with total investments and cash of $2.02 billion, up 3.6% from year-end 2015.
Book value was $18.74 per share as of Dec 31, 2016, down 0.9% from that as of Dec 31, 2015.
Long-term debt was $148.7 million, up 0.1% from the 2015-end level.
Statutory surplus decreased 0.6% year over year to $859.9 million.
Dividend Payout
As of Dec 23, 2016, the P&C insurer paid a special dividend of $2.00 per share. This dividend payment resulted in a tax benefit of $2.4 million ($0.05 per share).
In addition, RLI Corp. paid quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share. The insurer has paid more than $1.2 billion to investors over the last 10 years.
How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?
Analysts were quiet during the last two month period as none of them issued any earnings estimate revisions.
RLI Corp. Price and Consensus
RLI Corp. Price and Consensus | RLI Corp. Quote
VGM Scores
At this time, RLI Corp.'s stock has a subpar Growth score of 'D', however its momentum is doing a bit better with a 'C'. Charting a somewhat similar path, the stock was allocated a grade of 'D' on the value side, putting it in the bottom 40% for this investment strategy.
Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of 'D'. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.
The company's stock is suitable solely for momentum based on our styles scores.
Outlook
The stock has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We are expecting an inline return from the stock in the next few months.