Data as of:
LIVE
RLI
RLI Corp · Financials - Specialty Property & Casualty Insurance
$59.39
-7.65% this month
VERSUS
COMPARE
KNSL
Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. · Financials - Specialty Excess & Surplus Lines Insurance
$356.85
-5.95% this month
Comparison scoreboard
KNSL LEADS 3/5AI Scorei
RLI 36.5
KNSL ✓57.7
1Y Returni
RLI ✓-9.58%
KNSL -16.49%
Fwd P/Ei
RLI 23.50
KNSL ✓17.42
Target Up.i
RLI ✓-4.50%
KNSL -5.92%
Op. Margini
RLI 36.86%
KNSL ✓40.68%
Metrics last refreshed: 9/19/2026
Quick take
RLI vs KNSL Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
RLI Corp and Kinsale Capital are both specialty E&S insurance companies with exceptional long-term underwriting track records, but with different scale, age, business mix, and growth profiles — RLI is a well-established multi-line specialty insurer with over 25 years of consistent underwriting profit across casualty, property, and surety, while Kinsale is a fast-growing technology-driven pure-play E&S insurer targeting small commercial risks with industry-leading expense ratios and premium growth.
RLI vs KNSL is established specialty insurance discipline across multiple specialty lines (RLI's diversified casualty, property, and surety portfolio with a 25+ year underwriting profit streak, conservative capital management, and special dividend track record) versus technology-driven pure-play E&S growth (Kinsale Capital's proprietary underwriting technology enabling exceptional expense ratios and rapid share gains in small-market E&S commercial insurance, commanding a premium valuation for its rare combination of high growth and high profitability) — proven specialty insurance durability versus E&S technology growth premium.
Live analysis · updated 9/19/2026
KNSL holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. RLI has delivered stronger 1-year price return (-9.58% vs -16.49%), though KNSL has the better forward P/E setup (17.42x vs 23.50x for RLI). KNSL leads on both revenue growth (16.80%) and operating margin (40.68%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies similar upside for both: -4.50% for RLI and -5.92% for KNSL.
Normalized 1Y performance
RLI
KNSL
Recent returns
RLI
KNSL
Analyst price targets & sentiment
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
RLI
Price target range
analyst mean$60.50
current price$59.39
-4.5% upside to analyst mean
KNSL
Price target range
analyst mean$354.78
current price$356.85
-5.9% upside to analyst mean
Who should consider this stock?
RLI may suit investors who:
- Value RLI's 25+ year underwriting profit track record as evidence of enduring specialty underwriting discipline that has survived multiple insurance market cycles, catastrophe events, and economic downturns
- Appreciate RLI's special dividend history as a sign of shareholder-friendly capital management — returning excess capital when underwriting profits exceed capital needs rather than expanding into price-inadequate markets to deploy capital
- Prefer a diversified specialty insurance business across property, casualty, and surety that reduces any single catastrophe or economic cycle's impact on total company results
KNSL may suit investors who:
- Believe Kinsale's proprietary technology underwriting platform provides a durable structural expense ratio advantage over manual-underwriting E&S competitors that will sustain market share gains for years
- Are willing to pay a premium valuation for Kinsale's rare combination of rapid premium growth (30-40%+ annually) and exceptional underwriting profitability (combined ratios in the low 80s) — a combination that suggests genuine competitive advantage
- Want pure-play E&S insurance exposure without the surety, personal lines, or other business mix exposure of more diversified specialty insurers like RLI or W.R. Berkley
Performance & AI score
| Metric | RLI | KNSL |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 36.5 | 57.7 |
| AI ranki | #1584 | #217 |
| Latest closei | $59.39 | $356.85 |
| 1M returni | -7.65% | -5.95% |
| 6M returni | +2.24% | +9.22% |
| 1Y returni | -9.58% | -16.49% |
$10,000 invested — hypothetical growth (dividends reinvested)
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | RLI | KNSL |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $9.04K (-9.6%) started 2025-09-18 | $8.35K (-16.5%) started 2025-09-18 |
| 5Y ago | $11.66K (+16.6%) started 2021-09-20 | $21.9K (+119.0%) started 2021-09-20 |
| 10Y ago | $17.61K (+76.1%) started 2016-09-19 | $176.14K (+1661.4%) started 2016-09-19 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
Valuation & upside potential
| Metric | RLI | KNSL |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $5.81B | $8.59B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 13.31 | 15.32 |
| Forward P/Ei | 23.50 | 17.42 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 2.98 | 4.26 |
| Analyst targeti | $60.50 | $354.78 |
| Target upsidei | -4.50% | -5.92% |
Growth, profitability & risk
| Metric | RLI | KNSL |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 15.20% | 16.80% |
| Earnings growthi | 35.80% | 34.00% |
| EPS growthi | +35.80% | +34.00% |
| FCF margini | +16.01% | +49.20% |
| Operating margini | 36.86% | 40.68% |
| Profit margini | 22.22% | 28.49% |
| ROIC proxyi | 25.16% | 30.27% |
| Return on equityi | 25.16% | 30.27% |
| Dividend yieldi | 1.14% | 0.27% |
| Payout ratioi | 13.87% | 3.41% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | N/A |
| Betai | 0.33 | 0.89 |
| Debt/equityi | 18.19 | 11.03 |
| Current ratioi | 1.06 | 0.19 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.43 | 0.09 |
Correlation
Over the past year, RLI and KNSL have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.61), based on daily returns.
1Y
0.61
-1.0+1.0
5Y
0.53
-1.0+1.0
10Y
0.52
-1.0+1.0
Drawdown & downside risk
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
1Y risk snapshot
RLI max drawdowni28.13%
KNSL max drawdowni39.41%
RLI max wkly dropi11.06%
KNSL max wkly dropi12.14%
5Y risk snapshot
RLI max drawdowni47.18%
KNSL max drawdowni47.04%
RLI max wkly dropi11.06%
KNSL max wkly dropi22.72%
10Y risk snapshot
RLI max drawdowni47.18%
KNSL max drawdowni47.04%
RLI max wkly dropi21.15%
KNSL max wkly dropi26.12%
Performance metrics by period
| Period | Metric | RLI | KNSL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -9.58% | -16.49% |
| CAGRi | -9.58% | -16.50% | |
| Volatilityi | 26.68% | 35.30% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.41 | -0.46 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.56 | -0.63 | |
| Max drawdowni | 28.13% | 39.41% | |
| Current drawdowni | 10.85% | 25.50% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 9.66% | 22.28% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 11.82% | 24.19% | |
| Max daily dropi | 6.73% | 7.40% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 11.06% | 12.14% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +16.57% | +118.98% |
| CAGRi | +3.12% | +16.99% | |
| Volatilityi | 23.98% | 38.75% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.06 | 0.49 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.09 | 0.69 | |
| Max drawdowni | 47.18% | 47.04% | |
| Current drawdowni | 34.34% | 34.88% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 12.98% | 15.88% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 17.80% | 19.77% | |
| Max daily dropi | 8.10% | 19.56% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 11.06% | 22.72% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +76.13% | +1661.35% |
| CAGRi | +5.83% | +33.24% | |
| Volatilityi | 27.02% | 38.32% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.18 | 0.83 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.26 | 1.19 | |
| Max drawdowni | 47.18% | 47.04% | |
| Current drawdowni | 34.34% | 34.88% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 11.70% | 12.77% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 15.35% | 17.43% | |
| Max daily dropi | 12.82% | 19.56% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 21.15% | 26.12% |
Business comparison
| Category | RLI | KNSL |
|---|---|---|
| Company | RLI Corp | Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. |
| Sector | Financial Services | Financial Services |
| Industry | Insurance - Property & Casualty | Insurance - Property & Casualty |
| Core business | RLI Corp is a specialty insurance company headquartered in Peoria, Illinois, underwriting specialty property, casualty, and surety products. RLI operates in three segments: Casualty (commercial general liability, transportation liability, personal umbrella, professional services liability), Property (commercial property, marine, earthquake), and Surety (contract and commercial surety bonds). RLI focuses on niche specialty lines where it can deploy deep underwriting expertise to achieve better risk selection and pricing than generalist insurers, emphasizing consistent underwriting profit across insurance cycles. | Kinsale Capital Group is a pure-play excess and surplus lines (E&S) insurance company founded in 2009 and headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Kinsale underwrites commercial E&S insurance exclusively — primarily small and mid-market commercial accounts that the admitted insurance market declines due to unusual risk characteristics (construction, restaurants, professional liability, healthcare, general liability). Kinsale's differentiated strategy uses proprietary technology to underwrite efficiently, enabling faster turnaround on submissions and lower expense ratios than peers. Kinsale distributes exclusively through wholesale brokers (intermediaries between retail agents and E&S insurers) rather than directly to retail agents. |
| Investor focus | Investors track RLI's combined ratio (a consistent hallmark — RLI has delivered an underwriting profit in most years for over 25 consecutive years), book value growth (driven by underwriting profit and investment income), dividend growth (RLI has paid special dividends in addition to regular dividends in years of exceptional profit), and premium growth in specialty lines. | Investors track Kinsale's premium growth rate (which has consistently exceeded E&S market growth through market share gains), combined ratio (Kinsale targets a combined ratio in the low-to-mid 80s — exceptional versus the E&S industry average), operating expense ratio (reflecting the technology efficiency advantage), and return on equity. |
RLI strengths
- Exceptional long-term underwriting track record — RLI has generated an underwriting profit (combined ratio below 100%) in over 25 of the last 26+ years, an industry-leading record reflecting deep specialty underwriting discipline across property, casualty, and surety lines
- Conservative balance sheet and capital management — RLI's investment portfolio is conservatively positioned (primarily investment-grade bonds), and the company's capital management (returning excess capital via special dividends) reflects shareholder-friendly allocation discipline
- Diversified specialty lines across property, casualty, and surety reduce correlation to any single loss cycle — RLI's surety business (contract and commercial bonds) is largely uncorrelated to property catastrophe losses, providing diversification within the specialty insurance portfolio
KNSL strengths
- Technology-driven underwriting engine provides structural expense ratio advantage — Kinsale's proprietary underwriting software enables faster policy quotes and renewals with fewer underwriters per premium dollar; lower expense ratio versus manual-underwriting E&S peers creates a permanent cost advantage if technology lead is maintained
- Pure-play E&S focus on small-to-mid commercial risks creates an underserved niche with limited major insurer competition — large specialty insurers (AIG, Chubb, W.R. Berkley) prefer larger individual accounts; Kinsale focuses on the sub-$1M premium market where technology-driven efficiency is required to profitably underwrite high-volume, low-premium accounts
- Consistent underwriting profitability in the low-80s combined ratio is exceptional for the E&S industry — Kinsale has demonstrated both high growth and high underwriting profitability simultaneously, a combination rarely achieved in specialty insurance
Risks to watch — RLI
- RLI is smaller than major specialty insurers — with approximately $1.5B in annual premiums, RLI lacks the scale of larger specialty insurers (W.R. Berkley, Markel, Chubb); smaller scale may limit access to some major accounts and create concentration in smaller niches
- Personal umbrella business (RLI's largest casualty line) is exposed to social inflation risk — personal umbrella policies provide excess liability coverage above personal auto and homeowners; rising jury verdicts (social inflation) have created elevated loss trends in personal liability lines industry-wide
- Relatively slow premium growth versus peers in the current hard E&S market — RLI's disciplined underwriting culture means it does not chase volume in price-inadequate markets but may grow more slowly than aggressive specialty competitors during hard market expansion phases
Risks to watch — KNSL
- High premium growth has created expectations that may be difficult to sustain — Kinsale has grown premiums 30-40%+ annually; as the premium base grows, maintaining similar percentage growth rates becomes more challenging; any deceleration will impact the premium growth story
- Valuation premium requires flawless execution — Kinsale trades at a significant price-to-book and price-to-earnings premium to E&S peers due to its growth and profitability track record; any underwriting loss, reserve development issues, or growth slowdown could trigger significant multiple contraction
- Technology advantage is a target — Kinsale's technology differentiation has attracted copycats; other E&S insurers (and new entrants) are investing in similar underwriting technology; if the technology advantage narrows, Kinsale's expense ratio edge versus peers may compress
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