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 American Financial Group, Inc. or RLI Corp. 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 American Financial Group, Inc. and RLI Corp. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About American Financial Group, Inc. and RLI Corp.

American Financial Group, Inc., an insurance holding company, provides property and casualty insurance products in the United States. It operates through Property and Casualty Insurance and Other segments. The company offers property and transportation insurance products, such as physical damage and liability coverage for buses and trucks, other specialty transportation niches, inland and ocean marine, agricultural-related products, and other commercial property coverages; specialty casualty insurance, including primarily excess and surplus, executive and professional liability, general liability, umbrella and excess liability, and specialty coverage in targeted markets, as well as customized programs for small to mid-sized businesses and workers compensation insurance; and specialty financial insurance products comprising risk management insurance programs for lending and leasing institutions, fidelity and surety products, and trade credit insurance. It sells its property and casualty insurance products through independent insurance agents and brokers. American Financial Group, Inc. was formerly known as American Financial Group Holdings Inc and changed its name to American Financial Group, Inc. in July 1997. The company was founded in 1872 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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.

Latest Insurance and American Financial Group, Inc., RLI Corp. Stock News

As of September 2, 2026, American Financial Group, Inc. had a $11.8 billion market capitalization, compared to the Insurance median of $7.3 million. American Financial Group, Inc.’s stock is up 5.5% in 2026, up 1.1% in the previous five trading days and up 4.19% in the past year.

Currently, American Financial Group, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 12.5. American Financial Group, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $8.1 billion with a 11.8% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 5.8%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $12.387 per share for the current fiscal year. American Financial Group, Inc. currently has a 2.5% dividend yield.

As of September 2, 2026, RLI Corp. had a $5.8 billion market cap, putting it in the 69th percentile of all stocks. RLI Corp.’s stock is down 0.2% in 2026, down 0.6% in the previous five trading days and down 5.9% in the past year.

Currently, RLI Corp.’s price-earnings ratio is 13.3. 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 7.5% dividend yield.

How We Compare American Financial Group, Inc. and RLI Corp. 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 American Financial Group, Inc. and RLI Corp.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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American Financial Group, Inc. and RLI Corp. Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
American Financial Group, Inc.	AFG	B
RLI Corp.	RLI	C

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.

American Financial Group, Inc. has a Value Score of 78, which is Value. RLI Corp. has a Value Score of 45, which is Average.

The Value Stock Winner: American Financial Group, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Value Grade breakdown above, American Financial Group, Inc. is considered to have better value than RLI Corp.. For investors who focus solely on a company’s valuation, American Financial Group, Inc. 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.

American Financial Group, Inc. and RLI Corp.’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
American Financial Group, Inc.	AFG	C
RLI Corp.	RLI	B

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.

American Financial Group, Inc. has a Quality Score of 57, which is Average. RLI Corp. has a Quality Score of 70, which is Strong.

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 American Financial Group, Inc.. 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.

American Financial Group, Inc. and RLI Corp.’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
American Financial Group, Inc.	AFG	B
RLI Corp.	RLI	C

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

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

American Financial Group, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 61, which is Positive. RLI Corp. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 51, which is Neutral.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: American Financial Group, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, American Financial Group, Inc. has a better Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade than RLI Corp.. For those who are specifically looking for companies with better short-term prospects when compared to other companies in the same industry, American Financial Group, Inc. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Other American Financial Group, Inc. and RLI Corp. Grades

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

Momentum grades help 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.

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 American Financial Group, Inc. and RLI Corp. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, American Financial Group, Inc. or RLI Corp. Stock?

Overall, American Financial Group, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 78, Estimate Revisions Score of 61 and Quality Score of 57.

RLI Corp. stock has a Value Score of 45, Estimate Revisions Score of 51 and Quality Score of 70.

Comparing American Financial Group, Inc. and RLI Corp.’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.