Sectors & IndustriesFinancial ServicesInsurance - Specialty

Best Specialty Insurance Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top specialty insurance stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +28.50% per year, and are the best specialty insurance stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best specialty insurance stocks to buy right now are:

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) is the #1 top specialty insurance stock out of 20 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +17.17% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: B.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) has a Due Diligence Score of 49, which is 13 points higher than the specialty insurance industry average of 36.

ESNT passed 17 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Essent Group has seen its stock return 5.93% over the past year, overperforming other specialty insurance stocks by 4 percentage points.

Essent Group has an average 1 year price target of $74.20, an upside of 18.74% from Essent Group's current stock price of $62.49.

Essent Group stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 5 analysts covering Essent Group, 20% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 20% have issued a Buy, 60% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) is the #2 top specialty insurance stock out of 20 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +17.17% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: A.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) has a Due Diligence Score of 50, which is 14 points higher than the specialty insurance industry average of 36.

AIZ passed 18 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Assurant has seen its stock return 21.99% over the past year, overperforming other specialty insurance stocks by 20 percentage points.

Assurant has an average 1 year price target of $319.14, an upside of 19.76% from Assurant's current stock price of $266.49.

Assurant stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 7 analysts covering Assurant, 71.43% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 28.57% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Radian Group (NYSE:RDN) is the #3 top specialty insurance stock out of 20 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +5.11% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Radian Group (NYSE:RDN) is: Value: A, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: B.

Radian Group (NYSE:RDN) has a Due Diligence Score of 42, which is 6 points higher than the specialty insurance industry average of 36.

RDN passed 15 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Radian Group has seen its stock return 0.3% over the past year, underperforming other specialty insurance stocks by -2 percentage points.

Radian Group has an average 1 year price target of $42.50, an upside of 25.26% from Radian Group's current stock price of $33.93.

Radian Group stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 4 analysts covering Radian Group, 25% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 50% have issued a Buy, 25% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 15 specialty insurance stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 specialty insurance stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Amerisafe (NASDAQ:AMSF) has an annual dividend yield of 10.73%, which is 8 percentage points higher than the specialty insurance industry average of 2.87%. Amerisafe's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% ten times in the last 10 years. Amerisafe's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Amerisafe's dividend payout ratio of 104% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) has an annual dividend yield of 5.36%, which is 2 percentage points higher than the specialty insurance industry average of 2.87%. Fidelity National Financial's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Fidelity National Financial's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Fidelity National Financial's dividend payout ratio of 71.5% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) has an annual dividend yield of 3.69%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the specialty insurance industry average of 2.87%. First American Financial's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. First American Financial's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

First American Financial's dividend payout ratio of 30.4% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Specialty insurance stocks were down -1.37% in the last day, and up 1.51% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why specialty insurance stocks are down.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued specialty insurance stocks right now are:

James River Group Holdings (NASDAQ:JRVR) is the most undervalued specialty insurance stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

James River Group Holdings has a valuation score of 71, which is 32 points higher than the specialty insurance industry average of 39. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

James River Group Holdings's stock has dropped -31.89% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the specialty insurance industry by -34 percentage points.

Radian Group (NYSE:RDN) is the second most undervalued specialty insurance stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Radian Group has a valuation score of 57, which is 18 points higher than the specialty insurance industry average of 39. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Radian Group's stock has gained 0.3% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the specialty insurance industry by -2 percentage points.

Axis Capital Holdings (NYSE:AXS) is the third most undervalued specialty insurance stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Axis Capital Holdings has a valuation score of 43, which is 4 points higher than the specialty insurance industry average of 39. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Axis Capital Holdings's stock has dropped -0.06% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the specialty insurance industry by -2 percentage points.

52.94% of specialty insurance stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect specialty insurance stocks to rise by 24.64% over the next year.

0% of specialty insurance stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 10% of specialty insurance stocks are rated B (Buy), 90% are rated C (Hold), 0% are rated D (Sell), and 0% are rated F (Strong Sell).