Baron Funds: “Kinsale (KNSL) has a Long Runway for Growth”

Baron Funds, an asset management firm, published its “Baron Discovery Fund” fourth quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. A quarterly return of 3.13% was delivered by the fund’s institutional shares for the fourth quarter of 2021, which was better than the Russell 2000 Growth Index’s 0.01% return, but below the S&P 500 Index’s gain of 11.03% for the same period. Spare some time to check the fund’s top 5 holdings to have a clue about their top bets for 2022.

Baron Discovery Fund, in its Q4 2021 investor letter, mentioned Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: KNSL) and discussed its stance on the firm. Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. is a Richmond, Virginia-based insurance company with a $4.2 billion market capitalization. KNSL delivered a -22.20% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are down by -3.39%. The stock closed at $185.09 per share on January 20, 2022.

Here is what Baron Discovery Fund has to say about Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“Specialty insurer Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. outperformed after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results. Gross written premiums grew 36% and EPS nearly quadrupled as the underwriting margin expanded to the highest level in the company’s history. Market conditions remain favorable with rate increases well above loss cost trends, leading to better margins and favorable reserve development. We continue to own the stock because we believe Kinsale has a long runway for growth in an attractive segment of the insurance market.”

Our calculations show that Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: KNSL) failed to obtain a mark on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. KNSL was in 19 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2021, compared to 17 funds in the previous quarter. Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: KNSL) delivered an 11.77% return in the past 3 months.

In May 2021, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on KNSL in another article. You can find other letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2021 Q4 page.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.