MKL vs. RYAN: Markel vs. Ryan Specialty Stock Comparison

Company Profile

Markel (MKL) and Ryan Specialty (RYAN) both belong to the Insurance industry, though MKL is classified under Property & Casualty Insurance while RYAN falls under Insurance Brokers.

Markel (MKL) has more than two decades of public-market history since December 12, 1986, whereas Ryan Specialty (RYAN) listed on July 22, 2021 and has a much shorter record to draw on.

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

Trailing Returns

Calendar-Year Returns

Performance Metrics

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

Return Distribution

Risk Metrics

Ryan Specialty (RYAN) trades around 1.89M shares per day on average, while Markel (MKL) sees only 66.79K — a volume gap that can matter for position sizing, exit liquidity, and order execution.

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Profitability

Ryan Specialty (RYAN) at 25.15% sits in the top ROE quartile, while Markel (MKL) at 9.75% is closer to the peer norm — stronger capital efficiency for RYAN.

Markel (MKL) at 11.13% keeps about the industry-typical share of revenue as profit, while Ryan Specialty (RYAN) at 3.27% retains only a bottom-quartile share.

Neither side reports a meaningful operating margin: for Markel (MKL) in Insurance and Ryan Specialty (RYAN) in Insurance, funding costs are part of the core business, so net margin and ROE are the cleaner profitability reads.

Profitability Metrics

Growth

Ryan Specialty (RYAN) at 21.28% is around its peer norm for revenue growth, while Markel (MKL) at -2.49% drops into the bottom quartile, signaling weaker demand or pricing momentum.

Both Markel (MKL) at -15.10% and Ryan Specialty (RYAN) at -33.80% post bottom-quartile EPS growth versus peers, pointing to weaker earnings momentum than typical rivals.

Growth Metrics

Financial Strength

current ratio doesn’t apply on either side: Markel (MKL) in Insurance and Ryan Specialty (RYAN) in Insurance both report balance sheets without a current/non-current split, so their short-term liquidity is better judged through regulatory and funding measures.

debt-to-equity ratio is set aside for both: Markel (MKL) in Insurance and Ryan Specialty (RYAN) in Insurance run businesses where balance-sheet leverage is part of the model, so capital-adequacy and funding measures are the better gauges of balance-sheet risk.

Financial Strength Metrics

Dividends

Markel (MKL) pays no dividend (yield 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Ryan Specialty (RYAN) reports a yield of 1.06%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Markel (MKL) pays no dividend (payout 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Ryan Specialty (RYAN) reports a payout of 63.75%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Dividend Metrics

Valuation

Markel (MKL) at 13.80 is near its industry’s usual P/E ratio, while Ryan Specialty (RYAN) at 59.66 sits above its peer range — an unusually expensive price for RYAN’s trailing earnings.

Markel (MKL) at 1.47 is priced about in line with its industry on P/S ratio, while Ryan Specialty (RYAN) at 3.78 sits in the pricier quartile — RYAN costs more per dollar of sales.

Markel (MKL) at 1.28 sits near its industry’s typical P/B ratio, while Ryan Specialty (RYAN) at 12.86 prices above its benchmark range — RYAN looks rich relative to book.

Valuation Metrics