MKL vs WRB Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Markel and W.R. Berkley both operate specialty insurance businesses with disciplined underwriting cultures, but Markel has evolved into a broader diversified holding company with owned operating businesses and a public equity portfolio, while W.R. Berkley remains more focused on its decentralized specialty and commercial insurance underwriting operations.
MKL offers exposure to a diversified holding company model combining insurance with owned businesses and equity investing, while WRB offers more focused exposure to disciplined specialty insurance underwriting. The decision depends on whether you prefer a diversified holding company structure or a more purely focused specialty insurer.
MKL holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. MKL has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+1.59% vs +0.67%), though WRB has the better forward P/E setup (15.09x vs 16.08x for MKL). MKL leads on both revenue growth (12.70%) and operating margin (30.09%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for MKL (+7.72%) than for WRB (-5.82%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want exposure to a diversified holding company combining specialty insurance with owned operating businesses
- Value an investment approach drawing on long-term value investing principles
- Are comfortable with the complexity of valuing a multi-business holding company
- Believe long-term book value compounding is a meaningful measure of company performance
- Prefer a more focused specialty and commercial insurance underwriting business
- Value a decentralized operating model that responds quickly to niche market opportunities
- Want a company with a long track record of disciplined combined ratio performance
- Prefer a simpler business model to evaluate than a diversified holding company
| Metric | MKL | WRB |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 43.0 | 49.7 |
| AI ranki | #1109 | #526 |
| Latest closei | $1,867.19 | $73.10 |
| 1M returni | +7.30% | +7.15% |
| 3M returni | -1.01% | -0.38% |
| 6M returni | +5.34% | +9.38% |
| 1Y returni | +1.59% | +0.67% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | MKL | WRB |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $10.22K (+2.2%) started 2025-10-29 | $10.24K (+2.4%) started 2025-10-29 |
| 5Y ago | $14.22K (+42.2%) started 2021-10-29 | $24.27K (+142.7%) started 2021-11-01 |
| 10Y ago | $21.28K (+112.8%) started 2016-10-31 | $63.91K (+539.1%) started 2016-10-31 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | MKL | WRB |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $22.5B | $27.22B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 10.02 | 15.50 |
| Forward P/Ei | 16.08 | 15.09 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | 2.02 |
| EV/Revenuei | 1.29 | 1.86 |
| Analyst targeti | $1,956.33 | $69.06 |
| Target upsidei | +7.72% | -5.82% |
| Metric | MKL | WRB |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 12.70% | -0.80% |
| Earnings growthi | 86.80% | -10.90% |
| EPS growthi | +86.80% | -10.90% |
| FCF margini | -10.33% | +20.49% |
| Operating margini | 30.09% | 16.07% |
| Profit margini | 13.77% | 12.53% |
| ROIC proxyi | 12.46% | 20.21% |
| Return on equityi | 12.46% | 20.21% |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | 0.55% |
| Payout ratioi | 0.00% | 7.60% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | No increase yet |
| Betai | 0.66 | 0.27 |
| Debt/equityi | 22.43 | 31.53 |
| Current ratioi | 3.15 | 0.41 |
| Quick ratioi | 1.03 | 0.25 |
Over the past year, MKL and WRB have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.44), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | MKL | WRB |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +2.24% | +2.38% |
| CAGRi | +2.24% | +2.38% | |
| Volatilityi | 19.47% | 22.12% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.02 | 0.01 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.03 | 0.02 | |
| Max drawdowni | 21.87% | 18.64% | |
| Current drawdowni | 14.81% | 6.40% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 10.89% | 10.36% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 12.69% | 11.27% | |
| Max daily dropi | 7.85% | 6.06% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 9.51% | 14.12% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +42.19% | +123.03% |
| CAGRi | +7.30% | +17.43% | |
| Volatilityi | 22.37% | 22.90% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.23 | 0.62 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.32 | 0.87 | |
| Max drawdowni | 28.87% | 26.29% | |
| Current drawdowni | 14.81% | 6.83% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 8.63% | 7.77% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 10.46% | 9.94% | |
| Max daily dropi | 12.82% | 9.22% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 10.94% | 14.12% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +112.80% | +421.13% |
| CAGRi | +7.85% | +17.96% | |
| Volatilityi | 25.39% | 24.69% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.25 | 0.61 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.34 | 0.87 | |
| Max drawdowni | 44.66% | 45.35% | |
| Current drawdowni | 14.81% | 6.83% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 9.45% | 7.56% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 12.46% | 10.75% | |
| Max daily dropi | 19.83% | 15.43% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 27.11% | 22.83% |
| Category | MKL | WRB |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Markel Group Inc. | W. R. Berkley Corporation |
| Sector | Financial Services | Financial Services |
| Industry | Insurance - Property & Casualty | Insurance - Property & Casualty |
| Core business | A diversified holding company built around a specialty insurance and reinsurance business, alongside a growing portfolio of wholly owned non-insurance operating businesses and a public equity investment portfolio. | A specialty property and casualty insurance holding company operating through a decentralized network of insurance business units, each focused on niche commercial insurance and reinsurance markets. |
| Investor focus | Specialty insurance underwriting profitability, investment portfolio performance across both public equities and owned operating businesses, and long-term book value per share growth. | Combined ratio trends across its decentralized specialty insurance units, premium growth in niche commercial lines, and investment income contribution to overall earnings. |
- Diversified holding company structure combining specialty insurance with owned operating businesses provides multiple avenues for long-term value creation
- Long track record of disciplined underwriting in specialty and niche insurance lines has historically supported profitable growth
- Investment approach drawing inspiration from well-known long-term value investing philosophy has aimed to compound capital over time
- Decentralized operating model allows individual specialty insurance units to respond quickly to niche market opportunities
- Long track record of disciplined underwriting has historically supported consistent combined ratio performance relative to industry peers
- Diversification across many niche specialty insurance lines reduces reliance on any single commercial insurance market segment
- Complex holding company structure spanning insurance, investments, and diverse operating businesses can make the company harder for investors to value using simple metrics
- Specialty insurance underwriting results can be volatile in years with significant catastrophe losses
- Public equity investment portfolio performance introduces market-related earnings volatility beyond core insurance operations
- Specialty and commercial insurance underwriting results can be volatile in years with significant catastrophe losses
- Decentralized structure requires strong risk management oversight to maintain underwriting discipline across many individual business units
- Interest rate environment affects investment income generated from the company's fixed income investment portfolio
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