StockWatch: Hannover Re leads as German insurance stocks rally
European sub-group gained 4% on average, beating the Stoxx Europe 600
European and US groups see the biggest gains as markets rise
Insurance stocks outperformed indices on both sides of the Atlantic in the week to October 5 as equity markets staged a minor recovery.
Insurance Day’s European sub-group gained 4% on average, beating the Stoxx Europe 600 (+2.4%). Three German giants – Hannover Re (+7.4%), Munich Re (+7.6%) and Talanx (+5.6%) – performed particularly strongly as the DAX rose 5.5%. The gains put all three German stocks above the European average for the year-to-date (-15.7%) – although they are all still in negative territory for the year.
Munich Re and Hannover Re both last month predicted 2023 will see further rate increases and improved conditions in reinsurance.
Aviva also bounced 4.2% having crashed 11.1% last week, although it was still on Wednesday worth almost a quarter less (-24.9%) than at the start of 2022.
Bermudians rose 3.5% on average, with Arch Capital (+7.9%) the standout and Everest Re also gaining 5.4%.
Arch is the best-performing stock over the past 12 months in the Bermudian sub-group, up 19.9% against an average fall of 13.4%. Analysts at Zacks believe there is more upside in Arch shares, highlighting the stock as a hot “buy” this week while pointing to the firm’s price/earnings ratio of 8.7 against a sector average of 23.7.
The three Lloyd’s stocks rose 2.5% on average, with Hiscox (+3.5%) the biggest gainer of the week but Beazley (+2.6%) well out in front for the year-to-date (+26.5%).
The top-performing sub-group was the “other” North American stocks, which rose 4.4% on average, outpacing the recovery of the S&P 500 (+1.7%).
Chubb was the top performer, gaining 5.7%. Meanwhile, the big three brokers rose 3.7% on average, led by Marsh McLennan (+5.5%).
