US health insurance stocks followed up a fantastic year in 2013 by increasing an additional 3.5 percent through Q1 2014, according to a new report from A.M. Best.
US Health Insurer Stocks Carry Momentum through First Quarter of 2014 stated that the health index population stocks maintained the strong gains experienced in 2013, when prices rose 41.3 percent year-over-year, despite volatility experienced so far in 2014.
Of the 12 publicly-traded health insurers A.M. Best tracks, half of the stocks have increased by more than one third since Q1 2013.
Additionally, health insurers continued to implement active share buyback programmes.
Health insurers repurchased almost $3.4 billion worth of shares in the Q1 2014, an increase of nearly 133 percent over the same period in 2013. Dividends paid also increased by almost 20 percent year-over-year in Q1.
