Head to Head Survey: Markel Group (NYSE:MKL) and Bowhead Specialty (NYSE:BOW)

Markel Group (NYSE:MKL) and Bowhead Specialty (NYSE:BOW) are both multi-sector conglomerates companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, earnings, valuation and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Markel Group and Bowhead Specialty, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Markel Group	1	4	0	0	1.80
Bowhead Specialty	0	2	3	0	2.60

Markel Group presently has a consensus price target of $1,702.20, indicating a potential downside of 8.98%. Bowhead Specialty has a consensus price target of $33.60, indicating a potential downside of 14.67%. Given Markel Group’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Markel Group is more favorable than Bowhead Specialty.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Markel Group and Bowhead Specialty”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Markel Group	$16.75 billion	1.43	$2.64 billion	$199.04	9.40
Bowhead Specialty	$425.59 million	3.02	N/A	N/A	N/A

Markel Group has higher revenue and earnings than Bowhead Specialty.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

77.1% of Markel Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of Markel Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Markel Group and Bowhead Specialty’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Markel Group	16.34%	7.55%	1.99%
Bowhead Specialty	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Markel Group beats Bowhead Specialty on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Markel Group

Markel Group Inc., a diverse holding company, engages in marketing and underwriting specialty insurance products in the United States, Bermuda, the United Kingdom, and Germany. The company offers general and professional liability, personal lines, marine and energy, specialty programs, and workers' compensation insurance products; and property coverages that include fire, allied lines, and other specialized property coverages, including catastrophe-exposed property risks, such as earthquake and wind. It also offers credit and surety products, and collateral protection insurance products. In addition, the company offers transaction, directors and officers, and healthcare liability reinsurance; and specialty treaty reinsurance products comprising credit and surety, workers' compensation, marine and energy, public entity, mortgage default, aviation and space, agriculture, and discrete political violence and national terror pools. Further, it provides construction services, consumer and building products, transportation-related products, consulting services, and equipment manufacturing products, as well as healthcare, leasing, and investment services. Additionally, the company operates as an insurance and investment fund manager offering a range of investment products, including insurance-linked securities, catastrophe bonds, insurance swaps, traditional reinsurance contracts, industry loss warranties and other financial instruments; and program services. It also manages funds with third parties. The company was formerly known as Markel Corporation and changed its name to Markel Group Inc. in May 2023. Markel Group Inc. was founded in 1930 and is based in Glen Allen, Virginia.

About Bowhead Specialty

Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. provides specialty property and casualty insurance products in the United States. It underwrites casualty insurance solutions for risks in the construction, distribution, heavy manufacturing, real estate, and hospitality segments; professional liability insurance solutions for financial institutions, private and public directors and officers liability insurance, errors and omissions liability insurance, and cyber segments; and healthcare solutions for hospitals, senior care providers, managed care organizations, miscellaneous medical facilities, and healthcare management liability segments. The company distributes its products through distribution partners in wholesale and retail markets. Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. was formerly known as Bowhead Holdings Inc. and changed its name to Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. in March 2024. The company was founded in 2020 and is based in New York, New York. Bowhead Specialty Holdings Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Bowhead Insurance Holdings LP.