Large insurance companies trading on the stock exchange were not immune to the financial fallout that took place during August 24’s “Black Monday,” according to analysis released from SNL Financial this week.
Insurers including UnitedHealth Group and each of the “Big Five” health insurers all saw losses Monday. UnitedHealth lost about 5% that day, while Cigna lost 4.9%, Aetna 4.3%, Anthem 41.% and Humana 3.6%.
Only a few insurance stocks saw gains, including Kingsway Financial Services and Citizens Inc., but even those were small. Companies with approaching transactions also escaped most of the carnage, with PartnerRe – which recently agreed to an all-cash deal with Exor SpA – down just 0.5% to $137.55 a share.
On the other end of the spectrum, SNL noted that the 10 insurance companies with relatively high amounts of beta saw steeper drops than those 10 with the lowest amounts of beta. American Independence Corp., for example, was down just 0.4% during Monday’s session.
However, even with the fallout from Black Monday, insurance stocks have performed exceptionally well this year, SNL noted. Aetna and Humana, which have agreed to merger, are both up more than 20% for the year, while Anthem and Cigna were up 11.9% and 31.9%, respectively.
Earlier in the year,
The Street named the following 10 insurance companies as among the best picks for stock in the industry:
- Argo Group
- Hanover Insurance Group
- Travelers Cos.
- Stewart Information Services
- First American Financial
- Fidelity National
- W.R. Berkley Corp.
- Cincinnati Financial Corp.
- Aspen Insurance Holdings
- Progressive Corp.
