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How to buy Markel shares
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Markel Corporation is an insurance-property & casualty business based in the US. Markel shares (MKL.US) are listed on the NYSE and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Markel employs 18,600 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around $9 billion.
How to buy shares in Markel
- Choose a platform. If you're a beginner, our share-dealing table below can help you choose.
- Open your account. You'll need your ID, bank details and national insurance number.
- Confirm your payment details. You'll need to fund your account with a bank transfer, debit card or credit card.
- Search the platform for stock code: MKL in this case.
- Research Markel shares. The platform should provide the latest information available.
- Buy your Markel shares. It's that simple.
What's in this guide?
- Can I buy shares in Markel?
- Markel shares summary
- Compare share dealing platforms
- Is Markel stock a buy or sell?
- Can I short Markel shares?
- Is Markel suitable for ethical investing?
- Are Markel shares over-valued?
- Markel's financials
- How volatile are Markel shares?
- Does Markel pay a dividend?
- Have Markel shares ever split?
- Other common questions
Markel share price
Use our graph to track the performance of MKL stocks over time.Markel shares at a glance
Information last updated 2021-01-24.
| Latest market close | $N/A |
|---|---|
| 52-week range | $710.52 - $1347.64 |
| 50-day moving average | $1010.9988 |
| 200-day moving average | $1010.0927 |
| Wall St. target price | $1187.5 |
| PE ratio | 30.4781 |
| Dividend yield | N/A (0%) |
| Earnings per share (TTM) | $32.607 |
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All investing should be regarded as longer term. The value of your investments can go up and down, and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please seek out a financial adviser. Capital at risk.
Is it a good time to buy Markel 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.
Is Markel under- or over-valued?
Valuing Markel stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Markel's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.
Markel's P/E ratio
Markel'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 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's PEG ratio
Markel'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'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's EBITDA
Markel's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is a whopping $1.2 billion.
The EBITDA is a measure of a Markel's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.
Markel financials
| Revenue TTM | $9 billion |
|---|---|
| Operating margin TTM | 9.85% |
| Gross profit TTM | $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 | $13.7 billion |
TTM: trailing 12 months
How to short and sell Markel shares
- Create a CFD or spread betting account.
- Search for the stock code. E.g. "MKL.US"
- Choose your position size.
- Select "sell" rather than "buy".
- Confirm your position and keep tabs on it. You may wish to set limits on your position.
There are currently 99,123 Markel shares held short by investors – that's known as Markel's "short interest". This figure is 24.1% down from 130,593 last month.
There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Markel shares can be evaluated.
Markel's "short interest ratio" (SIR)
Markel's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Markel shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Markel shares traded daily (recently around 61567.080745342). Markel's SIR currently stands at 1.61. In other words for every 100,000 Markel shares traded daily on the market, roughly 1610 shares are currently held short.
However Markel's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Markel shares, or, against the total number of tradable Markel shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Markel's short interest could be expressed as 0.01% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Markel shares in existence, roughly 10 shares are currently held short) or 0.0074% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Markel shares, roughly 7 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.
Find out more about how you can short Markel stock.
Markel'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.
When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.
Markel'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'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 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's environmental score
Environmental score: 0.4/100
Markel's social score
Social score: 10.63/100
Markel's governance score
Governance score: 17.01/100
Markel's controversy score
Controversy score: 2/5
ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. A high-profile company, Markel scored a 2 out of 5 for controversy – the second-highest score possible, reflecting that Markel 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 share dividends
We're not expecting Markel to pay a dividend over the next 12 months. However, you can browse other dividend-paying shares in our guide.
Have Markel's shares ever split?
Markel'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 shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 16.7% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Markel shares which in turn could have impacted Markel's share price.
Markel share price volatility
Over the last 12 months, Markel'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's is 0.6681. This would suggest that Markel's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).
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Markel 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.
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