Kinsale Capital Group (NYSE:KNSL) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. (NYSE:KNSL)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $535.00 to $520.00. The stock had previously closed at $487.11, but opened at $459.46. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Kinsale Capital Group shares last traded at $453.88, with a volume of 116,802 shares traded.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on KNSL. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Kinsale Capital Group from $445.00 to $461.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Kinsale Capital Group from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $535.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Kinsale Capital Group from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Kinsale Capital Group from $500.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Kinsale Capital Group from $415.00 to $412.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kinsale Capital Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $460.78.

Insider Transactions at Kinsale Capital Group

In other Kinsale Capital Group news, Director James Joseph Ritchie sold 2,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.79, for a total transaction of $1,147,018.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,348 shares in the company, valued at $3,672,456.92. This trade represents a 23.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frederick L. Jr. Russell sold 4,440 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.31, for a total value of $2,216,936.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $223,191.57. The trade was a 90.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,235 shares of company stock worth $3,618,954. 5.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kinsale Capital Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KNSL. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Kinsale Capital Group during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in Kinsale Capital Group during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Kinsale Capital Group by 7,400.0% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Kinsale Capital Group by 450.0% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 88 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Kinsale Capital Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. 85.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kinsale Capital Group Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $10.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.88, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.15. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $461.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $465.57.

Kinsale Capital Group (NYSE:KNSL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $4.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.23 by $0.39. Kinsale Capital Group had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 26.80%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. will post 15.67 EPS for the current year.

Kinsale Capital Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This is an increase from Kinsale Capital Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Kinsale Capital Group’s dividend payout ratio is 3.42%.

About Kinsale Capital Group

Kinsale Capital Group, Inc, a specialty insurance company, engages in the provision of property and casualty insurance products in the United States. The company’s commercial lines offerings include commercial property, small business casualty and property, excess and general casualty, construction, allied health, life sciences, entertainment, energy, environmental, excess professional, health care, public entity, commercial auto, inland marine, aviation, ocean marine, product recall, and railroad, as well as product, professional, and management liability insurance.