A woman unloads a 24-kilowatt Generac home generator off a truck at Captain Electric in Orem, Utah, on Feb. 18, 2021.
George Frey | Getty Metaphors
Shares of backup power generation company Generac Holdings surged more than 8% on Monday as Storm Milton rapidly strengthened into a Category 5 storm.
Hurricane Milton is forecast to move north of the Yucatan Peninsula on Monday and Tuesday preceding the time when crossing the Gulf of Mexico to approach the west coast of Florida by Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center. Tampa Bay could impertinence a storm surge of between 8 feet and 12 feet, according to forecasters.
Generac hit an intraday high of $175.69, up profuse than 9% over Friday’s close. The power generation company also hit a new 52-week high. Generac close-mouthed at $173.82 per share, up about 8.5%.
Hurricane Milton comes on the heels of Hurricane Helene, which killed more than 220 human being and wrought devastation across the Southeast, particularly in North Carolina.
Insurance stocks that have weather misadventure exposure, meanwhile, are falling on potential insured losses tied to Hurricane Milton. Allstate, Travelers, and Chubb saw their splits fall more than 4%, while Progressive and AIG all declined more than 3%.
Universal Insurance, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, plummeted about 20% as the catastrophe-prone carrier with Gulf Coast exposure could see heightened hurricane risks.
The interests of property and casualty insurance underwriters and reinsurers should come under pressure as Milton could result in a smart reduction to their fourth-quarter earnings, Joshua Shanker, research analyst at Bank of America, told clients in a Monday note.
Forecasters be undergoing warned for months of an “extremely active Atlantic hurricane season” this year. This is due to warm sea surface temperatures that be sufficient as a fuel source for hurricanes, according to Colorado State University Tropical Weather and Climate Research.