Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. KNSL reported third-quarter 2026 net operating earnings of $5.70 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 15.15%. The bottom line increased 9.4% year over year.
Total revenues declined 8.6% year over year to $454.8 million, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.02%.
The quarterly results benefited from higher net earned premiums, increased net investment income and favorable prior-year reserve development. However, these gains were partially offset by lower gross written premiums, higher underwriting expenses and investment-related losses.
Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. Quote
KNSL’s Operational Update
Gross written premiums decreased 4.8% year over year to $462.9 million, primarily due to heightened competition in the property divisions. Net written premiums declined 1.5% year over year to $$399.1 million.
Net investment income increased 17.5% year over year to $58.3 million. The increase was primarily driven by growth in the company's investment portfolio, supported by the investment of strong operating cash flows. However, net investment income missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.7%.
Total expenses increased 3.9% year over year to $331.2 million. This was primarily due to higher underwriting, acquisition and insurance expenses, interest expense and other operating expenses. Our model estimate was pegged at $341 million.
Kinsale Capital's underwriting income was $107.1 million, up 1.3% year over year. The increase was driven by growth in net earned premiums and higher favorable development of loss reserves from prior accident years, partially offset by lower ceding commissions. Underwriting income surpassed our model estimate of $74 million.
The combined ratio deteriorated 50 basis points (bps) year over year to 75.4% compared with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 75.3. The loss ratio improved 50 bps to 53.4%, reflecting favorable reserve development. However, the expense ratio deteriorated 100 bps year over year to 22%, primarily due to lower ceding commissions.
KNSL’s Financial Update
Kinsale Capital exited the third quarter of 2026 with cash and cash equivalents of $160.5 million, down 1.7% from the 2025-end level.
As of Sept. 30, 2026, stockholders' equity decreased 2.1% from the 2025-end level to approximately $1.92 billion.
Book value per share was $85.25, up 0.7% from the 2025-end level.
Annualized operating return on equity deteriorated 100 bps year over year to 26% in the reported quarter.
KNSL’s Capital Deployment
KNSL repurchased 0.27 million shares for $100 million in the third quarter of 2026. As of Sept. 30, 2026, the company had $237.5 million remaining under its share repurchase authorization.
KNSL paid a cash dividend of 25 cents per share in the third quarter of 2026.
KNSL’s Zacks Rank
KNSL currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Performance of Other Insurers
Chubb Limited CB reported third-quarter 2026 core operating earnings of $7.66 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.53 by 17.3%. The bottom line increased 0.8% year over year. Revenues of $16.81 billion surpassed the consensus mark of $16.7 billion by 0.6%. Consolidated net premiums written increased 1.9% year over year to $15.14 billion, or 1.8% in constant dollars. The Zacks Consensus estimate is pegged at $15.11 billion. P&C underwriting income declined 8.8% year over year to $2.06 billion. The combined ratio deteriorated 230 basis points to 84.1%, reflecting higher catastrophe losses and weaker underwriting margins in certain commercial businesses. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at 87.
The Travelers Companies, Inc. TRV reported third-quarter 2026 core earnings of $9.18 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.07 by 29.8%. The bottom line increased 12.8% year over year. Revenues of $12.45 billion surpassed the consensus estimate of $12.40 billion by 0.4% and remained nearly flat year over year. TRV’s combined ratio improved 50 basis points year over year to 86.8%, reflecting stronger reserve development, partially offset by higher catastrophe losses. The underlying combined ratio deteriorated 20 basis points to 84.1%, while underlying underwriting income reached $1.74 billion pre-tax. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for combined ratio was pegged at 92.
W.R. Berkley Corporation WRB reported third-quarter 2026 operating income of $1.17 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.63%. The bottom line increased 6.4% year over year. Operating revenues of $3.76 billion rose 1.8% year over year but missed the consensus estimate by 1.19%. W.R. Berkley’s net premiums written increased 1.3% year over year to $3.27 billion, driven by growth in the Insurance segment. The combined ratio, a measure of underwriting profitability, improved 10 bps to 90.8%. Our estimate was pegged at 92.8%, while the Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at 90.95%.
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