Charting the 10 Insurers Most Attractive to Investors

New reports from Zacks Investment Research identify the insurers currently with the lowest price to forward sales ratios, which are an indicator of how much Wall Street values every dollar of the company's future sales, and is useful in assessing comparable companies. Generally, Zacks says, the lower the ratio, the more attractive the company is as an investment. While the reports do not delve into the specifics driving the growth of each company, they are still a useful guidepost.

Topping the list of multi-line insurers was The Hartford Financial Services Group, according to Zacks, which has a price to forward sales of 0.48x. Assurant followed, also with a ratio of 0.48x, followed by Genworth Financial with a 0.58x ratio. Horace Mann Educators (0.66x) and Eastern Insurance Holdings (0.83x) round out the group.

As for the life and health insurers, Phoenix has the lowest price to forward sales ratio of 0.19x. CNO Financial follows with a price to forward sales of 0.43x, while American Equity Investment has the next lowest ratio of 0.51x. Protective Life (0.68x) and MetLife (0.70x) round out the group.