RLI Earnings Preview

RLI (NYSE: RLI) will try to beat its earnings estimates for the fourth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday, July 20. RLI underwrites selected property and casualty insurance through its subsidiaries, collectively known as RLI Insurance Group.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on RLI, with a unanimous hold rating. Analysts don't like RLI as much as competitor OneBeacon Insurance Group overall. One out of six analysts rates OneBeacon Insurance Group a buy, compared with zero of 10 for RLI. Analysts' rating of RLI has stayed constant from three months prior.
• Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $142.5 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a decline of 0.2% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $1.05 per share. Estimates range from $0.92 to $1.18.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock, with 92.1% giving it an "outperform" rating. The community at large concurs with the All-Stars, with 92.2% awarding it a rating of "outperform." Fools are gung-ho about RLI, though the message boards have been quiet lately, with only 27 posts in the past 30 days. RLI has a bullish CAPS rating of five out of five stars that is about on par with the Fool community's assessment.

Management:
RLI's profit has risen year over year by an average of 8.4%.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows net margins over the past four quarters.