Aflac, Ing, PRI, Unum: Life Insurance Stocks Hit New 52-Week Highs

On apparent hope that “cooling inflation” may mean lower interest rates and sooner rather than later, these life insurance stocks last week rocketed to new 2023 highs. They were clearly outperforming weakness in the big-name tech stocks that had been grabbing the investment news headlines.

Generally thought of as unexciting value stocks, these dividend-paying, low price-earnings ratio names fail to get the blood pumping in growth-crazed investment analyst circles. Despite the lack of flair, the life insurance sector continues to find enough buyers to keep showing up on the “new highs” list.

Aflac
AFL
, also sometimes known as American Family Life Assurance, is headquartered in Columbus, Georgia and was founded in 1955. The company is mainly life insurance but offers other types of insurance products as well. The business is active in the United States and Japan.

Earnings per share this year are up by 3.10% and up over the past 5 years by 14.50%. The stock trades at 2.26 times book value with a price-earnings ratio of 10.29, well below the Standard & Poor’s Shiller p/e of 30.89. Price to free cash flow comes in at 20.65. Aflac pays a 2.19% dividend.

Note that the stock moved from $60 in mid-March to the recent new 52-week high of $78 before backing off a bit. That both the 50-day moving average (the blue line) and 200-day moving average (the red line) trend upward is bullish. That the relative strength indicator (RSI, below the price chart) has hit “overbought” range may suggest that a rest is due.

ING Groep is a financial institution based in the Netherlands, active in the life insurance business and traded as an “American depository receipt” on the New York Stock Exchange. The company provides services in most of Europe as well as in the United States, Latin America, Asia and Australia.

This year’s earnings per share show a decrease of 17% and a decrease over the past 5 years of 4.30%. The stock trades at a 4% discount to book with a price-earnings ratio of 8.23. Long-term debt exceeds shareholder equity. ING Groep pays a dividend of 6.35%.

The strong uptrend that began in late March (following concerns about the financial services industry after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank) took the price from $10.70 up to $14.80 by early August. There’s a negative divergence now between price and RSI, a short-term negative look.

Primerica
PRI
is headquartered in Duluth, Georgia and has been providing life insurance and related products since 1927. The company was recently honored by Forbes as one of “America’s best employers for women, 2023.” It also made the Forbes list of best insurance companies for 2022.

Earnings per share are up this year by 3.90% and up over the past 5 years by 12.00%. The stock trades with a price-earnings ratio of 20 and at 4 times its book value. Shareholder equity is slightly exceeded by long-term debt. Primerica offers investors a 1.22% dividend.

The stock trends upward steadily and trades well above both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.

Unum
UNM
does business in the United States, Ireland, England, Poland and globally via remote locations.

Earnings per share are up by 61% this year. For the past 5 years, the EPS gain is 9.00%. The stock’s price-earnings ratio is 6.98 and it trades at just over its book value. In April, Wells Fargo
WFC
initiated coverage with an “overweight” rating and a price target of $57. Unum pays a 2.90% dividend.

Similar to the charts of the other life insurance companies, the move from the March dip to the present is steadily upward. Both moving averages continue to trend in that direction. The RSI in the overbought territory hints of the potential for a pause.