Sifting through countless of stocks in the Insurance industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in RLI Corp. or First American Financial Corporation because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how RLI Corp. and First American Financial Corporation compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About RLI Corp. and First American Financial Corporation

RLI Corp., an insurance holding company, provides property, casualty, and surety insurance products. Its Casualty segment provides commercial excess, personal umbrella, general liability, transportation, and management liability coverages; professional liability and workers’ compensation for office-based professional coverages; commercial automobile liability and physical damage insurance to local, intermediate and long haul truckers, public transportation entities, and other specialty commercial automobile risks; incidental related insurance coverages; inland marine coverages; directors and officers liability insurance, fiduciary liability and coverages, employment practice liability, public and private businesses risk, and home business insurance products. This segment also offers coverages for security guards and environmental liability for underground storage tanks, contractors and asbestos, and environmental remediation specialists; and professional liability coverages for errors and omission coverage for small to medium-sized design, technical, computer, and miscellaneous professionals. The company’s Property segment offers commercial property insurance, such as fire, wind, difference in conditions, earthquake, flood, and collapse coverages; insurance for office buildings, apartments, condominiums, and industrial and mercantile structures; and cargo, hull, protection and indemnity, marine liability, inland marine, homeowners’ and dwelling fire, and other property insurance products. Its Surety segment provides commercial surety bonds for medium and large-sized businesses; small bonds for businesses and individuals; and bonds for small to medium-sized contractors. The company offers reinsurance coverages. It markets its products through branch offices, wholesale and retail brokers, carrier partners, and underwriting and independent agents. RLI Corp. was incorporated in 1965 and is headquartered in Peoria, Illinois.

First American Financial Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides financial services. It operates through Title Insurance and Services, and Home Warranty segments. The Title Insurance and Services segment issues title insurance policies on residential and commercial property, as well as offers related products and services internationally. This segment also provides closing and/or escrow services; products, services, and solutions to mitigate risk or otherwise facilitate real estate transactions; appraisals and other valuation-related products and services; lien release, document custodial, and default-related products and services; document generation services; warehouse lending services; and subservices mortgage loans; as well as banking, trust, and wealth management services. In addition, it accommodates tax-deferred exchanges of real estate; and maintains, manages, and provides access to title plant data and records. This segment offers its products through a network of direct operations and agents in various states and in the District of Columbia, as well as in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, and internationally. The Home Warranty segment provides home warranty products, including residential service contracts that cover residential systems, such as heating and air conditioning systems, and certain appliances against failures that occur as the result of normal usage during the coverage period. This segment operates in various states and the District of Columbia. First American Financial Corporation was founded in 1889 and is based in Santa Ana, California.

Latest Insurance and RLI Corp., First American Financial Corporation Stock News

As of September 10, 2026, RLI Corp. had a $5.5 billion market capitalization, compared to the Insurance median of $6.8 million. RLI Corp.’s stock is NA in 2026, NA in the previous five trading days and down 9.89% in the past year.

Currently, RLI Corp.’s price-earnings ratio is 12.7. RLI Corp.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $2.0 billion with a 22.2% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 15.2%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.844 per share for the current fiscal year. RLI Corp. currently has a 7.8% dividend yield.

Currently, First American Financial Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 9.9. First American Financial Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $8.0 billion with a 9.3% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 15.0%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $7.142 per share for the current fiscal year. First American Financial Corporation currently has a 3.1% dividend yield.

How We Compare RLI Corp. and First American Financial Corporation Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at RLI Corp. and First American Financial Corporation’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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RLI Corp. and First American Financial Corporation Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
RLI Corp.	RLI	C
First American Financial Corporation	FAF	A

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

RLI Corp. has a Value Score of 47, which is Average. First American Financial Corporation has a Value Score of 92, which is Deep Value.

The Value Stock Winner: First American Financial Corporation

As you can clearly see from the Value Grade breakdown above, First American Financial Corporation is considered to have better value than RLI Corp.. For investors who focus solely on a company’s valuation, First American Financial Corporation could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

RLI Corp. and First American Financial Corporation’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
RLI Corp.	RLI	B
First American Financial Corporation	FAF	C

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

RLI Corp. has a Quality Score of 70, which is Strong. First American Financial Corporation has a Quality Score of 49, which is Average.

The Quality Grade Winner: RLI Corp.

As you can clearly see from the Quality Grade breakdown above, RLI Corp. has a better overall quality grade than First American Financial Corporation. For investors who are looking for companies with higher quality than others in the same industry, RLI Corp. could be a good stock to add to their portfolios. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

RLI Corp. and First American Financial Corporation’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
RLI Corp.	RLI	C
First American Financial Corporation	FAF	C

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

RLI Corp. has a Momentum Score of 46, which is Average. First American Financial Corporation has a Momentum Score of 55, which is Average.

The Momentum Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither RLI Corp. or First American Financial Corporation has a strong enough Momentum Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if RLI Corp. or First American Financial Corporation is the better investment when it comes to momentum.

Other RLI Corp. and First American Financial Corporation Grades

In addition to Quality, Value and Momentum, A+ Investor also provides grades for Growth and Estimate Revisions.

Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether RLI Corp. and First American Financial Corporation pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, RLI Corp. or First American Financial Corporation Stock?

Overall, RLI Corp. stock has a Value Score of 47, Momentum Score of 46 and Quality Score of 70.

First American Financial Corporation stock has a Value Score of 92, Momentum Score of 55 and Quality Score of 49.

Comparing RLI Corp. and First American Financial Corporation’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.