How to buy Markel Corporation stock | 1068.74

Markel Corporation is an insurance—property & casualty business based in the US. Markel Corporation shares (MKL) are listed on the NYSE and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Markel Corporation employs 18,600 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around USD$9 billion.

How to buy shares in Markel Corporation

1. Compare share trading platforms. If you're a beginner, look for a platform with low commissions, expert ratings and investment tools to track your portfolio. Narrow down top brands with our comparison table.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and bank information. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for Markel Corporation. Find the stock by name or ticker symbol: MKL. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until Markel Corporation reaches your desired price. To spread out your purchase, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of USD$1068.74, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimize risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of Markel Corporation, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Markel Corporation. Optimize your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

How has coronavirus impacted Markel Corporation's share price?

Since the stock market crash in March caused by coronavirus, Markel Corporation's share price has had significant negative movement.

Its last market close was USD$1068.74, which is 20.29% down on its pre-crash value of USD$1340.84 and 50.42% up on the lowest point reached during the March crash when the shares fell as low as USD$710.52.

If you had bought USD$1,000 worth of Markel Corporation shares at the start of February 2020, those shares would have been worth USD$630.88 at the bottom of the March crash, and if you held on to them, then as of the last market close they'd be worth USD$908.43.

Markel Corporation share price

Use our graph to track the performance of MKL stocks over time.

Markel Corporation shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2020-11-30.

Latest market close	USD$1068.74
52-week range	USD$710.52 - USD$1347.64
50-day moving average	USD$998.2924
200-day moving average	USD$987.8001
Wall St. target price	USD$1162.5
PE ratio	29.95
Dividend yield	N/A (0%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	USD$32.607

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Is it a good time to buy Markel Corporation stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of Markel Corporation by TradingView

This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.

Markel Corporation price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the close of $1068.74 from 2020-11-16

1 week (2020-11-24)	4.01%
1 month (2020-10-30)	14.57%
3 months (2020-09-01)	-1.75%
6 months (2020-06-01)	19.05%

1 year (2019-11-29)	-5.88%
2 years (2018-11-30)	-6.59%
3 years (2017-12-01)	-3.93%
5 years (2015-12-01)	17.96%

Is Markel Corporation under- or over-valued?

Valuing Markel Corporation stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Markel Corporation's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Markel Corporation's P/E ratio

Markel Corporation's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 30x. In other words, Markel Corporation shares trade at around 30x recent earnings.

That's relatively high compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The high P/E ratio could mean that investors are optimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're over-valued.

Markel Corporation's PEG ratio

Markel Corporation's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 0.7347. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Markel Corporation's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Markel Corporation's EBITDA

Markel Corporation's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is USD$1.2 billion.

The EBITDA is a measure of a Markel Corporation's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Markel Corporation financials

Revenue TTM	USD$9 billion
Operating margin TTM	9.85%
Gross profit TTM	USD$5.5 billion
Return on assets TTM	1.43%
Return on equity TTM	4.32%
Profit margin	5.36%
Book value	$820.297
Market capitalisation	USD$13.5 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting Markel Corporation shares

There are currently 86,859 Markel Corporation shares held short by investors – that's known as Markel Corporation's "short interest". This figure is 1.4% up from 85,697 last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Markel Corporation shares can be evaluated.

Markel Corporation's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

Markel Corporation's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Markel Corporation shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Markel Corporation shares traded daily (recently around 54974.050632911). Markel Corporation's SIR currently stands at 1.58. In other words for every 100,000 Markel Corporation shares traded daily on the market, roughly 1580 shares are currently held short.

However Markel Corporation's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Markel Corporation shares, or, against the total number of tradable Markel Corporation shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Markel Corporation's short interest could be expressed as 0.01% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Markel Corporation shares in existence, roughly 10 shares are currently held short) or 0.0064% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Markel Corporation shares, roughly 6 shares are currently held short).

Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Markel Corporation.

Find out more about how you can short Markel Corporation stock.

Markel Corporation's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Markel Corporation.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

Markel Corporation's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 30.73

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Markel Corporation's overall score of 30.73 (as at 01/01/2019) is pretty weak – landing it in it in the 64th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Markel Corporation is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

Markel Corporation's environmental score

Environmental score: 0.4/100

Markel Corporation's social score

Social score: 10.63/100

Markel Corporation's governance score

Governance score: 17.01/100

Markel Corporation's controversy score

Controversy score: 2/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. Markel Corporation scored a 2 out of 5 for controversy – the second-highest score possible, reflecting that Markel Corporation has, for the most part, managed to keep its nose clean.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

Markel Corporation was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.

Total ESG score	30.73
Total ESG percentile	64.06
Environmental score	0.4
Social score	10.63
Governance score	17.01
Level of controversy	2

Markel Corporation share dividends

We're not expecting Markel Corporation to pay a dividend over the next 12 months.

Have Markel Corporation's shares ever split?

Markel Corporation's shares were split on a 120:100 basis on 11 September 1989. So if you had owned 100 shares the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 120 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Markel Corporation shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 16.7% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Markel Corporation shares which in turn could have impacted Markel Corporation's share price.

Markel Corporation share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Markel Corporation's shares have ranged in value from as little as $710.52 up to $1347.64. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while Markel Corporation's is 0.6832. This would suggest that Markel Corporation's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

Markel Corporation overview

Markel Corporation, a diverse financial holding company, markets and underwrites specialty insurance products in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and internationally. Its Insurance segment offers general and professional liability, personal lines, marine and energy, specialty programs, and workers' compensation insurance products; and property coverages that consist principally of fire, allied lines, and other specialized property coverages, including catastrophe-exposed property risks, such as earthquake and wind. This segment also offers credit and surety products, and collateral protection insurance. The company's Reinsurance segment offers general liability, professional liability, workers' compensation, medical malpractice, and environmental impairment liability; property treaty products for catastrophe, per risk, and retrocessional exposures; and specialty treaty reinsurance products comprising structured and whole turnover credit, political risk, mortgage and contract, and commercial surety reinsurance programs. Its Markel Ventures segment provides equipment used in baking systems and food processing; portable dredges; over-the-road car haulers and equipment; and laminated oak and composite wood flooring, as well as ornamental plants and residential homes. This segment also provides healthcare, consulting, and others types of services to businesses and consumers, including management and technology consulting, behavioral healthcare, and retail intelligence. The company's Other segment operates as an insurance and investment fund manager offering a range of investment products, including insurance-linked securities, catastrophe bonds, insurance swaps, and weather derivatives; and program services. Markel Corporation was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in Glen Allen, Virginia.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Markel Corporation is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 2.456% of Markel Corporation shares are held by insiders and 77.646% by institutions.

• How many people work for Markel Corporation?

  Latest data suggests 18,600 work at Markel Corporation.

• When does the fiscal year end for Markel Corporation?

  Markel Corporation's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is Markel Corporation based?

  Markel Corporation's address is: 4521 Highwoods Parkway, Glen Allen, VA, United States, 23060

• What is Markel Corporation's ISIN number?

  Markel Corporation's international securities identification number is: US5705351048

• What is Markel Corporation's CUSIP number?

  Markel Corporation's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 570535104