** Shares of Florida-focused insurers slump in early trading as Milton intensifies into a category 4 hurricane

** Heritage Insurance , Universal Insurance , and HCI Group slide 23%, 19%, and 14%, respectively

** Florida on Sunday prepared for its largest evacuation since 2017's Hurricane Irma

** Insurers have been liable for billions of dollars in claims due to weather-related disasters in recent years; severe weather events have caused some of their biggest losses

** Some players have also retreated from geographies prone to extreme weather events in recent years

** Concerns over hurricane losses tend to pressure valuations for Florida-focused insurers, analysts have said

** S&P 1500 Insurance Index down 1.8%, on track for biggest percentage drop in more than two months

(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru)

((ArasuKannagi.Basil@thomsonreuters.com;))