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Best Life Insurance Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top life 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 life 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 life insurance stocks to buy right now are:

Pelagos Insurance Capital (NYSE:PLGO) is the #1 top life insurance stock out of 14 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 Pelagos Insurance Capital (NYSE:PLGO) is: Value: A, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: A.

Pelagos Insurance Capital (NYSE:PLGO) has a Due Diligence Score of 32, which is 1 points higher than the life insurance industry average of 31.

PLGO passed 11 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Pelagos Insurance Capital has seen its stock return 48.34% over the past year, overperforming other life insurance stocks by 57 percentage points.

Pelagos Insurance Capital has an average 1 year price target of $23.60, a downside of -5.52% from Pelagos Insurance Capital's current stock price of $24.98.

Pelagos Insurance Capital stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 5 analysts covering Pelagos Insurance Capital, 20% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 20% have issued a Buy, 40% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 20% have issued a Strong Sell.

Waterdrop (NYSE:WDH) is the #2 top life insurance stock out of 14 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 Waterdrop (NYSE:WDH) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: B.

Waterdrop (NYSE:WDH) has a Due Diligence Score of 44, which is 13 points higher than the life insurance industry average of 31.

WDH passed 17 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Waterdrop has seen its stock lose -14.07% over the past year, underperforming other life insurance stocks by -6 percentage points.

Exzeo Group (NYSE:XZO) is the #3 top life insurance stock out of 14 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 Exzeo Group (NYSE:XZO) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: A, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Exzeo Group (NYSE:XZO) has a Due Diligence Score of 13, which is -18 points lower than the life insurance industry average of 31.

XZO passed 4 out of 33 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals.

Out of 9 life insurance stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 life insurance stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Old Republic International (NYSE:ORI) has an annual dividend yield of 9.04%, which is 6 percentage points higher than the life insurance industry average of 3.14%. Old Republic International's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% seven times in the last 10 years. Old Republic International's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Old Republic International's dividend payout ratio of 88.4% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

International General Insurance Holdings (NASDAQ:IGIC) has an annual dividend yield of 5.09%, which is 2 percentage points higher than the life insurance industry average of 3.14%. International General Insurance Holdings's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% three times in the last 10 years. International General Insurance Holdings's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

International General Insurance Holdings's dividend payout ratio of 48.2% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Equitable Holdings (NYSE:EQH) has an annual dividend yield of 2.52%, which is -1 percentage points lower than the life insurance industry average of 3.14%. Equitable Holdings's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Equitable Holdings's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Equitable Holdings's dividend payout ratio of -37% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Life insurance stocks were up 0.88% in the last day, and up 2.46% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why life insurance stocks are up.

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 life insurance stocks right now are:

Pelagos Insurance Capital (NYSE:PLGO) is the most undervalued life insurance stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Pelagos Insurance Capital has a valuation score of 57, which is 34 points higher than the life insurance industry average of 23. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Pelagos Insurance Capital's stock has gained 48.34% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the life insurance industry by 57 percentage points.

Aegon (NYSE:AEG) is the second most undervalued life insurance stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Aegon has a valuation score of 29, which is 6 points higher than the life insurance industry average of 23. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Aegon's stock has gained 17.91% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the life insurance industry by 26 percentage points.

Waterdrop (NYSE:WDH) is the third most undervalued life insurance stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Waterdrop has a valuation score of 43, which is 20 points higher than the life insurance industry average of 23. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Waterdrop's stock has dropped -14.07% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the life insurance industry by -6 percentage points.

40% of life insurance stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect life insurance stocks to rise by 14.78% over the next year.

0% of life insurance stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 7.69% of life insurance stocks are rated B (Buy), 84.62% are rated C (Hold), 0% are rated D (Sell), and 7.69% are rated F (Strong Sell).