Is It Safe? Insurers Ripe for Buying

"Is It Safe?" looks at a company's risk-and-reward potential. Find out if your stocks are safe at 4 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Insurance-company stocks have been clobbered as much as bank shares.

Insurers' large investment portfolios were dented by the stock-market crash. In some cases -- American International Group(AIG Quote) and Hartford Financial Services Group(HIG Quote) -- the consequences were close to disastrous. Some, hurt by their own business models, such as Ambac(ABK Quote) and MBIA(MBI Quote), are still on the precipice. But nine months after the meltdown, it's actually a good time to invest in insurance stocks.

Of the 94 insurers listed on the New York Stock Exchange, 15 have risen more than 50% in the past three months, led by Genworth(GNW Quote), which has tripled. Because insurers have rebounded with a lag to the rest of the stock market, they are now attractive "value" investments. And they are safer now than they have been in months, given that many have reduced risks and raised additional capital.

To start, HealthSpring(HS Quote) has a very low price-to-book value of 83.8%, a low price-to-earnings ratio of 7.8 and a trailing P/E of only 5.5. The trailing P/E average for the industry is 15.8. Compared with other insurance stocks, HealthSpring has been held back, rising just 26% in the past three months. Investors have started to see the value and the stock is rising.

Unum Group(UNM Quote) is slightly richer than HealthSpring, with a price-to-book value of 94.5%, a P/E of 9.2 and a trailing P/E of 11.2. Unum's stock has increased 20% over three months.

Price-to-book value, the underlying value of a company's assets minus its liabilities divided by the share price, is an accurate method of looking for value. Of the 10 best value stocks, the insurer with the lowest price to book is Assured Guaranty(AGO Quote) at 63%. Ironically, it's one of the biggest gainers, up 58% in the past three months. It has a P/E of 3.8 and a trailing P/E of 4.0. It's poised for significant earnings growth in 2010, according to SNL Financial's analysts' estimates.