Markel closed today at an all-time high of $1,636 per share. Just two weeks ago, it closed at $1,436. The spike can be traced to Q1 earnings, which were reported eight days ago and seem to have relieved concerns about the insurance operation after a worrisome Q4 performance. The shares surged following the report and have been climbing steadily since. It's up 14% in two weeks and 11% since earnings.

Today's close translates to 1.4x book value. Two weeks ago, it was at 1.3x. Book value increased 6% sequentially and 18% year over year in the Q1 report.

Since 2010, Markel has traded as low as 1.05x book and as high as 1.74x. It bottomed near the end of 2011, then grew erratically for the next seven years to highs above 1.7x in 2018. It fell precipitously over the next year and half, bounced along the bottom during the height of the pandemic, then jumped to 1.4x in the first quarter of 2022. Since then, it has mostly traded in a range between 1.2x and 1.4x.

https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/MKL/mark...

For comparison, Berkshire is trading a little above 1.5x book and Fairfax just above 1.2x book.

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