RLI
RLI's revenue rose 6.3% to $1.9 billion in fiscal 2025. Its net margin was 21.4%, up from 19.5% a year earlier. Free cash flow was $609 million, up 9.6%. It paid out $242 million in dividends and buybacks, 40% of free cash flow.
Net margin is net income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on equity is net income as a share of shareholders' equity. Market cap is the last closing share price times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate. P/E is the last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters, or the latest fiscal year where the quarters aren't available; there is none when the company made a loss.
Charts show fiscal years, from the 10-K filings.
Revenue and margins
Net income and earnings per share
From fiscal 2016 to 2025, earnings per share grew 14.5% a year and net income 15.0% a year, as new shares raised the share count by 4% and diluted each share's earnings.
Returns on capital
Cash flow
Payouts and share count
Valuation
Two ways to value RLI yourself, both starting from its filings: a discounted cash flow model and the price-to-earnings method.
Discounted cash flow (DCF)
A discounted cash flow (DCF) model values a business as the cash it may generate in future, discounted back to today. The starting figures come from RLI's 10-K (or, for net cash and shares, its latest 10-Q) and the assumptions are yours: start from one of three example scenarios, then change any figure to see what it implies for a share, and how that compares with the last share price.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from RLI's fiscal 2025 free cash flow of $609M, net cash of −$251M at September 30, 2026 and 92 million diluted shares, from its filings. The scenarios are fitted to RLI: the base scenario's growth in years 1 to 5 is its revenue growth over the last 3 years, 3.5% a year; the cautious and optimistic ones are lower and higher, and growth in years 6 to 10 is halfway to the long-run rate. The base scenario's discount rate is 8%: 7% for a stable business (Property & Casualty Insurance), plus 1 point as a smaller company, worth $6.0B; the cautious and optimistic ones use a point more and a point less. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $64.90
- Value on these assumptions, against the last close
- —
- Cash flows in years 1 to 10, valued today
- —
- Everything after year 10, valued today
- —
- Plus net cash
- —
- Share of value from after year 10
How the value changes with two assumptions
Price-to-earnings (P/E) method
Another common way to value a company is to multiply its earnings per share by a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple: the number of years of today's earnings an investor pays for a share. A higher multiple usually means investors expect earnings to grow. Choose a multiple, for example from similar companies, to see the value it gives.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from RLI's earnings per share of $4.29 (over the last four quarters). Each grows earnings for a year at the cash flow scenarios' rates and applies a multiple to next year's earnings: 13.8×, the middle of RLI's own P/E today, its peers' median and its sector's median (the Financials median) for the base scenario, 20% less and more for the cautious and optimistic ones. The price is brought back a year at 9%, 8% and 7%. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $64.90
- Value at this multiple, against the last close
- —
- RLI's P/E at the last close
- 15.1×
| Company | Last close | Earnings per share | P/E today |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kinsale Capital GroupKNSL | $369.88 | $22.94 | 16.1× |
| RLIRLI | $64.90 | $4.29 | 15.1× |
| Selective Insurance GroupSIGI | $98.79 | $8.32 | 11.9× |
| Hanover InsuranceTHG | $239.07 | $20.94 | 11.4× |
Balance sheet
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | 89 | 23 | 36 | 40 | 52 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 200 | 200 | 200 | — | — |
| Net debt (negative means net cash) | 111 | 177 | 164 | — | — |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 0.3x | 0.2x | 0.4x | — | — |
| Debt to equity | 0.2x | 0.2x | 0.1x | — | — |
| Interest coverage | 45.9x | 90.6x | 52.7x | 68.5x | 95.4x |
| Current ratio | — | — | — | — | — |
| Quick ratio | — | — | — | — | — |
Insider trades
Over the 12 months between October 27, 2025 and October 26, 2026, 4 insiders bought $1.3 million of RLI shares on the open market, and none sold any.
| Date | Insider | Trade | Shares | Price | Value | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 1, 2026 | Clark C KelloggDirector | Bought | 3,000 | $50.90 | $152,700 | Form 4 |
| May 28, 2026 | David B. DuclosDirector | Bought | 2,500 | $51.99 | $129,975 | Form 4 |
| May 27, 2026 | Jennifer L KlobnakChief Operating Officer | Bought | 2,000 | $52.72 | $105,440 | Form 4 |
| May 27, 2026 | Craig W KliethermesChief Executive Officer | Bought | 2,000 | $52.00 | $104,000 | Form 4 |
| May 21, 2026 | Craig W KliethermesChief Executive Officer | Bought | 5,000 | $52.00 | $260,000 | Form 4 |
| May 19, 2026 | Jennifer L KlobnakChief Operating Officer | Bought | 2,000 | $53.42 | $106,840 | Form 4 |
| Jan 23, 2026 | Craig W KliethermesChief Executive Officer | Bought | 5,000 | $57.45 | $287,250 | Form 4 |
| Jan 23, 2026 | Jennifer L KlobnakChief Operating Officer | Bought | 2,000 | $57.99 | $115,980 | Form 4 |
Piotroski F-score
The F-score counts how many of nine simple tests of profitability, funding and efficiency a company passed in a year (Piotroski, 2000). The more tests passed, the stronger the year: 8 or 9 is strong, 0 to 2 weak. Companies that report no gross profit are scored on the other eight.
| Test | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Return on assets rose | Fail | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Debt fell relative to assets | Pass | — | — |
| Current ratio rose | — | — | — |
| Share count didn't rise | Fail | Fail | Pass |
| Gross margin rose | — | — | — |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | Fail | Pass | Fail |
| F-score | — | — | — |
| Accruals ratio | −3.2% | −4.0% | −3.6% |
Compare
Put RLI side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.
Similar companies
| Company | Year | Revenue growth | Operating margin | Free cash flow margin | Return on capital | Net debt to EBITDA | F-score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RLI | FY25 | 6.3% | — | 32.3% | — | — | — | |
| Kinsale Capital Group | FY25 | 18.0% | — | 52.8% | 28.7% | 0.1x | — | Compare |
| Lemonade | FY25 | 40.1% | — | −3.5% | — | — | — | Compare |
| Selective Insurance Group | FY25 | 9.8% | — | 22.4% | 14.6% | 0.3x | — | Compare |
| Hanover Insurance | FY25 | 5.7% | 14.2% | 17.8% | 21.3% | 0.1x | — | Compare |
10 years of figures
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | 816 | 797 | 818 | 1,004 | 984 | 1,179 | 1,698 | 1,512 | 1,770 | 1,882 |
| Revenue growth | 2.7% | −2.3% | 2.6% | 22.7% | −2.0% | 19.9% | 44.0% | −10.9% | 17.1% | 6.3% |
| Gross profit | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Research and development | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating income | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Net income | 115 | 105 | 64 | 192 | 157 | 279 | 583 | 305 | 346 | 403 |
| Diluted EPS (US$) | 1.29 | 1.18 | 0.71 | 2.12 | 1.73 | 3.06 | 6.37 | 3.31 | 3.74 | 4.37 |
| Diluted shares (millions) | 89 | 89 | 90 | 90 | 91 | 91 | 92 | 92 | 92 | 92 |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | 174 | 198 | 217 | 277 | 263 | 385 | 250 | 464 | 560 | 614 |
| Capital expenditure | 16 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| Free cash flow | 158 | 188 | 211 | 270 | 257 | 377 | 245 | 458 | 556 | 609 |
| Dividends paid | 122 | 114 | 83 | 86 | 88 | 135 | 365 | 140 | 236 | 242 |
| Share buybacks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Acquisitions | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stock-based compensation | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Balance sheet at fiscal year end | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | 23 | 34 | 42 | 46 | 62 | 89 | 23 | 36 | 40 | 52 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 149 | 149 | 149 | 149 | 150 | 200 | 200 | 200 | — | — |
| Total assets | 2,778 | 2,947 | 3,105 | 3,546 | 3,938 | 4,508 | 4,767 | 5,180 | 5,629 | 6,162 |
| Total liabilities | 1,954 | 2,094 | 2,298 | 2,550 | 2,802 | 3,279 | 3,590 | 3,767 | 4,107 | 4,383 |
| Shareholders' equity | 824 | 854 | 807 | 995 | 1,136 | 1,229 | 1,177 | 1,414 | 1,522 | 1,778 |
| Margins and ratios | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating margin | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Net margin | 14.1% | 13.2% | 7.8% | 19.1% | 16.0% | 23.7% | 34.4% | 20.1% | 19.5% | 21.4% |
| Free cash flow margin | 19.4% | 23.6% | 25.8% | 26.9% | 26.2% | 31.9% | 14.4% | 30.3% | 31.4% | 32.3% |
| Return on capital | 12.6% | 9.6% | 7.6% | 19.7% | 14.1% | 22.3% | 43.8% | 21.2% | — | — |
| Return on equity | 13.9% | 12.5% | 7.7% | 21.3% | 14.7% | 23.6% | 48.5% | 23.5% | 23.6% | 24.4% |
| Return on assets | 4.2% | 3.7% | 2.1% | 5.8% | 4.2% | 6.6% | 12.6% | 6.1% | 6.4% | 6.8% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 0.7x | 1.1x | 1.3x | 0.4x | 0.4x | 0.3x | 0.2x | 0.4x | — | — |