Only one of the largest 20 public insurers in the U.S. saw its market capitalization decline sequentially during the first quarter, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis.

UnitedHealth Group Inc., by far the largest public insurer in the U.S., logged a 1.5% quarter-over-quarter increase in market capitalization, rising to $479.83 billion from $472.94 billion.

Fellow managed care insurer Anthem Inc. saw its market capitalization climb 5.4% quarter over quarter to $118.53 billion from $112.51 billion at the close of 2021. Chubb Ltd. ended the quarter as the third-largest publicly traded U.S. insurer with a market capitalization of $91.17 billion.

Cigna Corp., the fourth-largest insurer on the list, saw a modest 0.2% quarter-over-quarter growth during the period with a market capitalization of $76.29 billion.

W. R. Berkley posts largest percentage gain

W. R. Berkley Corp., which did not make the list of the top 20 largest U.S. insurers in the fourth quarter of 2021, posted the biggest quarter-over-quarter growth during the period at 21.3%. It ended the first quarter of 2022 with a market capitalization of $17.66 billion.

Cincinnati Financial Corp. and Markel Corp. tied for the second-largest quarter-over-quarter increase in market capitalization on a percentage basis at 18.8% each. They ended the period with market capitalizations of $21.81 billion and $20.04 billion, respectively.

Humana Inc. was the only company on the top 20 list that saw its market capitalization fall. The health insurer's market capitalization declined 7.6% to $55.11 billion from $59.62 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Insurance stocks outpace broader market

Insurance stocks outperformed the broader market during the first quarter, as the S&P 500 Insurance index rose 8.9% in the period. The S&P 500 index, on the other hand, experienced a 4.6% decline.