Insurance and reinsurance stocks with ties to the Florida property market saw a brief rally Wednesday after grinding through their worst day of the year the day before.

Insurers HCI Group, Universal Insurance Holdings and Heritage Insurance Holdings saw 3%, 5% and 9% bumps, respectively. Reinsurance stocks also bounced, though not as much. Everest Re and XL Group each saw trading up less than 1%.

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With Hurricane Irma approaching the US, the health of stocks for Florida-connected insurers will likely be tied to the latest weather forecasts, according to a report by Benzinga.com. If Irma scores a direct hit on Florida, insurance companies could be looking at billions of dollars in claims payouts.

According to the latest models, Irma will make landfall near Miami on Sunday and head up Florida’s east coast – although projections are subject to change this far in advance. A direct hit on Miami or another heavily populated area would likely send insurance and reinsurance stocks plummeting, Benzinga.com reported. On the other hand, a near-miss could send those stocks back up to their pre-Irma levels.


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