Kingstone Companies, Inc. KINS shares rose 21% in the last trading session as the insurer’s fourth-quarter 2024 earnings met the Zacks Consensus Estimate and revenues beat the same. Both top and bottom lines improved year over year. 

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KINS posted fourth-quarter 2024 operating income of 46 per share, which met the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The bottom line improved more than threefold year over year. 

The insurer’s results reflected improved net investment income and higher premiums and lower expense ratio. The insurer, as expected, benefited from market dislocation in the reported quarter. 

Quarterly Operational Update of KINS

Total operating revenues of $42 million missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.8%. The top line rose 13.5% year over year on higher net investment income and higher premiums earned.

Direct premiums written rose 37% year over year to $72.5 million as direct premiums written from core business increased 49.2% to $70.2 million attributable to market dislocation, partly offset by a 59.9% decline in direct premiums written from non-core business.

Policies in force were 73,857 as of Dec. 31, 2024.

Net premiums earned improved 25.4% year over year to $36 million.  

Net investment income increased 21.3% year over year to $1.9 million.

Loss and loss adjustment expenses were $17.5 million, up 7.4% year over year. Total expenses increased 8.3% year over year to $35.4 million.

Underlying loss ratio improved 470 basis points year over year to 49.1%. Net loss ratio improved 810 basis points year over year to 48.7%.   

Net combined ratio improved 1,100 basis points year over year to 48.7%, driven by lower frequency of large losses, no catastrophe losses, and a lower expense ratio.

Adjusted EBITDA more than doubled year over year to $9.3 million.

Financial Update

KINS exited 2024 with total investments of 208.6 million, up 19.4% from 2023 end. Cash and cash equivalents of $28.7 million increased more than threefold from 2023 end. 

Debt balance was $11.1 million, down 25% from 2023 end.

Annualized operating return on average common equity was 36.3% in 2024 versus negative 17.5% in 2023.

2025 Guidance

KINS estimates core business direct premiums to grow between 15% and 25%. The combined ratio is expected between 81% and 85%. Net income is estimated between $1.75 per share and $2.15 per share. Return on equity is projected to be in the range of 25% to 35%.

Zacks Rank

KINS currently flaunts a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Performance of Other Insurers

The Travelers Companies TRV reported fourth-quarter 2024 core income of $9.15 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 39.3% and improved 30.5% year over year. Travelers’ total revenues increased 10.4% from the year-ago quarter to $11.9 billion. The top-line figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1%.

Net written premiums increased 7% year over year to a record $10.7 billion, driven by strong growth across all three segments. Our estimate was $10.8 billion. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at $926 million. TRV witnessed an underwriting gain of $1.4 billion, up 30.5% year over year. The consolidated underlying combined ratio of 84% improved 190 bps year over year.

RLI Corp. RLI reported fourth-quarter 2024 operating earnings of 41 cents per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 14.5%. The bottom line decreased 46.8% from the prior-year quarter. Operating revenues for the reported quarter were $436 million, up 15.3% year over year, driven by higher net premiums earned and net investment income. The top line matched the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Gross premiums written increased 9% year over year to $473.2 million. This uptick can be attributed to the solid performance of the Casualty segment (up 18.3%). Our estimate was $550 million. Underwriting income of $22.2 million decreased 62.8% year over year. The combined ratio deteriorated 1,170 bps year over year to 94.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the metric was pegged at 96%, while our estimate was 102%.

W.R. Berkley Corporation’s WRB fourth-quarter 2024 operating income of $1.13 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 20.2%. The bottom line improved 17.7% year over year. Operating revenues were $3.5 billion, up 9.2% year over year. The top line beat the consensus estimate by 4.2%.

W.R. Berkley’s net premiums written were $2.9 billion, up 8% year over year. The figure was lower than our estimate of $3 billion. The consolidated combined ratio (a measure of underwriting profitability) deteriorated 180 bps year over year to 90.2%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was 91%.

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