3 Insurance Stocks Hitting 52-Week Highs With More Room to Run

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Trade rotation has been the big stock market story so far in 2026. AI hyperscalers are still allocating significant capital toward their goals, but these ambitions aren't being rewarded as they were in previous years. Instead, money has been flowing into more defensive sectors such as consumer staples and industrials as investors digest weak U.S. economic data. Stocks in the insurance space lagged in 2025, but several underlying tailwinds indicate potential outperformance in 2026.

Why it matters

The insurance industry is benefiting from interest rate tailwinds, benign weather, pricing power, and AI-driven efficiency, leading to strong earnings and stock performance for major insurers.

The details

Interest rates have been rising, allowing insurers to reinvest their premium pools into higher-yielding assets and boost their net investment income. Additionally, a lack of major natural disasters in 2025 limited catastrophe payouts and improved underwriting margins. Insurers have also been able to pass premium increases to policyholders with minimal pushback, and the implementation of AI tools has led to more efficient underwriting and risk assessment.

• In 2025, no hurricanes made landfall in the continental United States, which limited catastrophe payouts and boosted underwriting margins.
• In Q4 2025, Travelers Companies Inc. exceeded earnings per share and revenue projections, and its combined ratio of 80.2% highlighted improvements in underwriting efficiency.