Kinsale Capital Group (NYSE: KNSL) reported fourth-quarter results that easily surpassed analyst expectations. Investors were pleased, sending shares of the specialty insurance company up as much as 14% in Friday trading.

Kinsale is an insurance company that specializes in the obscure -- businesses like marijuana dispensaries and axe-throwing venues that are difficult to evaluate via normal insurance underwriting methods. There's a lot of risk in insuring these businesses, but if you know what you are doing the margins and premiums also tend to be higher than typical business policies.

Kinsale's latest results demonstrate the company's expertise. The company earned $2.60 per share on revenue of $242.96 million in the fourth quarter, easily surpassing Wall Street expectations for earnings of $2.15 per share on sales of $234.5 million. Net operating earnings were up 48.1% year over year, and gross written premiums increased by 45%. For the year, net operating earnings were up 36.2% and gross written premiums increased by 44.2%.

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Source Fool.com