RLI Corp And Its Units Receive Rating Action From A.M. Best

RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) and its units recently received rating action from credit rating giant, A.M. Best. The credit rating agency affirmed A+ (Superior) financial strength rating (FSR) of the property and casualty (P&C) insurer’s subsidiaries, namely RLI Insurance Company, Mt. Hawley Insurance Company and Contractors Bonding and Insurance Company.

RLI Corp. was affirmed the issuer credit rating (ICR) of “a”. In addition, the rating agency affirmed the ICRs of “aa” for the aforementioned subsidiaries of the insurer.

The rating affirmations indicate the company’s excellent capitalization, continued long-term operating profitability and outstanding business profile, which make it one of the industry-leading property and casualty insurer in the United States.

Notably, these subsidiaries were affirmed the FSR of A+ by the credit rating agency on Jun 5, 2015 as well. Moreover, the ICRs of “a” and “aa” were affirmed by A.M. Best for RLI Corp. and its subsidiaries, respectively.

Rating affirmations or upgrades from credit rating agencies play an important role in retaining investors’ confidence in the stock as well as maintaining credit worthiness in the market. Hence, it is expected that such ratings will help the company write more business, going forward.

Currently, RLI Corp carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks from the same space are National Interstate Corporation (NASDAQ:NATL) , Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ:AGII) and Cincinnati Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:CINF) . While National Interstate sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), both Argo Group and Cincinnati Financial hold a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

National Interstate, a specialty property and casualty insurer, has witnessed upward revisions in the Zacks Consensus Estimate over the last 60 days for both 2016 and 2017.

Cincinnati Financial, a property and casualty insurer, has also witnessed upward revisions in the Zacks Consensus Estimate over the last 60 days for both 2016 and 2017.

Argo Group, a specialty insurance and reinsurance underwriter in the property and casualty insurance market, has witnessed upward revisions in the Zacks Consensus Estimate over the last 60 days for both 2016 and 2017.

Confidential from Zacks

Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>>