Reposting with edits as the prior post is not updating online.
Markel (MKL) closed at $785/share as of March 20th. Since the reported book value of MKL was $802 as of Dec 31st, I wanted to look into the equity portfolio of $MKL and see the effect on its book value. At the closing price of $1,143 on Dec 31st, MKL traded at a P/B of 1.42.
Q4 2019 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
Given the carnage in the market, the equity value of its U.S listed stocks are down from $7.2B to $4.95B (see below) which is 31% below 12/2019. Of course, there is a possibility that Markel could have sold stocks before the meltdown or could have increased the equity holdings materially but neither will be known at least until early May.
With 13.7M shares outstanding as of 31/12, the book value change just from marking the equity book to market would be $162/share. Adjusting for this, the book value for Markel would be ~$640/share. Markel also has deferred taxes of $996M related to investments. This translates to $72/share. At the corporate tax rate of 21.2% (2019 rate) Markel can offset about $34/share of the equity price decline resulting in a book value of $674/share. The new price/book will be 1.16. This is definitely more cheaper than 31/12.
At this point, it is also not clear whether the insurance operation will take any hit due to any exposure to Covid as well. While Markel does trade much cheaper than it has for a long time, it is far from trading below book value like it did very briefly when the acquisition of Alterra was announced.
Disclosure: Long Markel.
Thanks for @rationalwalk for pointing out the deferred taxes.
| Stock | Value as of 31/12 | Price on March 20th | Portfolio Value |
| KMX – CarMax Inc. | $430,729,000 | $44.27 | $217,501,608.90 |
| BRK.A – Berkshire Hathaway CL A | $375,247,000 | $257,346.00 | $284,367,330.00 |
| BRK.B – Berkshire Hathaway CL B | $345,720,000 | $170.06 | $259,572,271.42 |
| BAM – Brookfield Asset Management Inc. | $334,930,000 | $38.65 | $223,962,874.65 |
| DIS – Walt Disney Co. | $268,206,000 | $85.98 | $159,443,891.40 |
| MAR – Marriott Int’l. | $240,057,000 | $74.58 | $118,229,362.02 |
| DEO – Diageo plc | $227,333,000 | $109.56 | $147,884,088.00 |
| HD – Home Depot | $200,909,000 | $152.15 | $139,978,000.00 |
| GOOG – Alphabet Inc. CL C | $181,244,000 | $1,072.32 | $145,361,554.56 |
| AMZN – Amazon Corp. | $180,963,000 | $1,846.09 | $180,791,285.88 |
| V – Visa Inc. | $179,472,000 | $146.83 | $140,244,674.50 |
| UNH – United Health Group Inc. | $176,094,000 | $206.59 | $123,747,410.00 |
| DE – Deere & Co. | $174,282,000 | $111.63 | $112,288,617.00 |
| WBA – Walgreens Boots Alliance | $121,310,000 | $46.42 | $95,509,150.00 |
| BLK – BlackRock Inc. | $110,594,000 | $354.72 | $78,038,400.00 |
| RLI – RLI Corp. | $107,779,000 | $73.63 | $88,155,137.36 |
| ADI – Analog Devices | $101,705,000 | $85.08 | $72,812,399.88 |
| TXN – Texas Instruments | $91,663,000 | $97.60 | $69,735,200.00 |
| ADP – Automatic Data Processing Inc. | $90,484,000 | $112.06 | $59,470,242.00 |
| JNJ – Johnson & Johnson | $89,097,000 | $119.89 | $73,228,812.00 |
| AAPL – Apple Inc. | $88,105,000 | $229.24 | $68,780,023.40 |
| UL – Unilever PLC | $87,333,000 | $47.17 | $72,056,892.00 |
| GS – Goldman Sachs Group | $78,613,000 | $138.41 | $47,322,379.00 |
| MSFT – Microsoft Corp. | $74,847,000 | $137.35 | $65,189,057.00 |
| LOW – Lowe’s Cos. | $69,580,000 | $66.36 | $38,555,160.00 |
| WSO – Watsco Inc. | $69,808,000 | $145.71 | $56,462,625.00 |
| BX – The Blackstone Group | $68,415,000 | $37.67 | $46,070,410.00 |
| GD – General Dynamics | $68,247,000 | $113.99 | $44,114,130.00 |
| ADM – Archer-Daniels-Midland | $67,824,000 | $30.61 | $44,791,613.00 |
| ANTM – Anthem Inc. | $67,655,000 | $191.59 | $42,916,160.00 |
| MMC – Marsh & McLennan | $67,905,000 | $79.87 | $48,680,765.00 |
| NVO – Novo Nordisk A S | $62,221,000 | $49.46 | $53,169,500.00 |
| MA – Mastercard Inc. | $61,465,000 | $211.42 | $43,520,807.00 |
| AXP – American Express | $59,911,000 | $74.12 | $35,670,250.00 |
| ECL – Ecolab Inc. | $59,113,000 | $141.88 | $43,457,844.00 |
| ITW – Illinois Tool Works | $57,302,000 | $125.78 | $40,123,820.00 |
| BF.A – BROWN FORMAN Inc. A | $52,916,000 | $45.94 | $38,727,420.00 |
| SCHW – Charles Schwab | $51,493,000 | $30.75 | $33,293,025.00 |
| MCO – Moody’s Corp. | $49,804,000 | $175.80 | $36,879,324.00 |
| APO – Apollo Global Management | $48,306,000 | $26.84 | $27,175,500.00 |
| PGR – Progressive Corp. | $46,329,000 | $68.28 | $43,699,200.00 |
| SBUX – Starbucks Corp. | $45,689,000 | $58.03 | $30,156,334.04 |
| NSC – Norfolk Southern Corp. | $44,552,000 | $123.71 | $28,391,445.00 |
| SMG – Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. | $44,808,000 | $83.53 | $35,249,660.00 |
| TRV – Travelers Companies Inc. | $43,139,000 | $89.51 | $28,195,650.00 |
| CAT – Caterpillar Inc. | $41,941,000 | $95.50 | $27,122,000.00 |
| CFX – Colfax Corp. | $41,294,000 | $16.40 | $18,615,148.00 |
| MMM – 3M Co. | $40,312,000 | $124.89 | $28,537,365.00 |
| SPGI – S&P Global Inc. | $40,138,000 | $208.79 | $30,692,130.00 |
| KKR – KKR & Co. L.P. | $39,838,000 | $19.07 | $26,043,899.00 |
| CG – Carlyle Group | $38,817,000 | $19.39 | $23,461,900.00 |
| WHR – Whirlpool Corp. | $38,733,000 | $74.45 | $19,546,028.55 |
| HAS – Hasbro Inc. | $38,442,000 | $46.10 | $16,780,400.00 |
| TROW – T. Rowe Price Group | $38,258,000 | $90.34 | $28,366,760.00 |
| NKE – NIKE Inc. | $37,079,000 | $67.45 | $24,686,700.00 |
| SRCL – Stericycle Inc. | $36,244,000 | $44.68 | $25,378,240.00 |
| MHK – Mohawk Industries | $35,595,000 | $58.66 | $15,310,260.00 |
| MSCI – MSCI Inc. | $35,370,000 | $243.07 | $33,300,590.00 |
| LYV – Live Nation Inc. | $34,927,000 | $33.97 | $16,601,139.00 |
| ACN – Accenture | $33,565,000 | $149.94 | $23,900,436.00 |
| ITIC – Investors Title Co. | $33,957,000 | $110.90 | $23,654,970.00 |
| UTX – United Technologies | $33,546,000 | $82.53 | $18,486,720.00 |
| BF.B – Brown-Forman Corp. | $32,055,000 | $48.85 | $23,164,034.95 |
| TSN – Tyson Foods | $32,365,000 | $53.62 | $19,061,910.00 |
| NVR – NVR Inc. | $31,819,000 | $2,326.89 | $19,441,165.95 |
| BA – Boeing Co. | $30,752,000 | $95.01 | $8,968,944.00 |
| FDS – FactSet Research Systems | $31,273,000 | $217.98 | $25,407,748.80 |
| HEI – HEICO Corp. | $30,588,000 | $70.20 | $23,983,408.80 |
| JPM – JPMorgan Chase & Co. | $30,066,000 | $83.50 | $18,009,280.00 |
| FB – Facebook Inc. | $29,390,000 | $149.83 | $21,454,157.70 |
| ROK – Rockwell Automation Inc. | $28,394,000 | $126.89 | $17,777,289.00 |
| ROL – Rollins Inc. | $27,169,000 | $35.00 | $28,677,250.00 |
| LUV – Southwest Airlines | $26,478,000 | $31.94 | $15,666,570.00 |
| LBRDA – Liberty Broadband Corp. CL A | $25,566,000 | $87.38 | $17,934,745.00 |
| LSXMK – Liberty SiriusXM Series C | $25,129,000 | $25.48 | $13,300,560.00 |
| SEIC – SEI Investments | $25,092,000 | $38.56 | $14,776,192.00 |
| CVS – CVS Health Corp. | $24,665,000 | $54.70 | $18,160,400.00 |
| DAL – Delta Air Lines Inc. | $24,386,000 | $21.35 | $8,902,950.00 |
| PH – Parker-Hannifin | $24,411,000 | $102.43 | $12,148,198.00 |
| CMCSA – Comcast Corp. | $23,429,000 | $33.37 | $17,385,770.00 |
| LBRDK – Liberty Broadband Corp. CL C | $21,643,000 | $90.67 | $15,605,485.71 |
| CHH – Choice Hotels Int. Inc. | $20,996,000 | $57.67 | $11,707,010.00 |
| LSXMA – Liberty Sirius XM Series A | $20,593,000 | $25.33 | $10,790,580.00 |
| LNAGF – Linde AG | $20,098,000 | $151.30 | $14,282,720.00 |
| PEP – PepsiCo Inc. | $19,899,000 | $103.93 | $15,132,208.00 |
| SHW – Sherwin-Williams | $18,090,000 | $412.70 | $12,793,700.00 |
| ATVI – Activision Blizzard Inc. | $16,685,000 | $52.05 | $14,615,640.00 |
| CSCO – Cisco Systems | $16,402,000 | $35.60 | $12,175,200.00 |
| GOOGL – Alphabet Inc. | $16,742,000 | $1,068.21 | $13,352,625.00 |
| MCHP – Microchip Technology | $16,651,000 | $59.64 | $9,482,760.00 |
| MXIM – Maxim Integrated Products | $15,501,000 | $44.12 | $11,118,240.00 |
| EFX – Equifax Inc. | $15,063,000 | $105.65 | $11,357,375.00 |
| UNP – Union Pacific | $15,434,000 | $117.84 | $10,060,000.80 |
| HCSG – Healthcare Services Group | $13,947,000 | $21.58 | $12,376,130.00 |
| HXL – Hexcel Corp. | $13,489,000 | $32.01 | $5,889,840.00 |
| IFF – International Flav/Frag | $13,676,000 | $102.41 | $10,855,460.00 |
| BK – Bank of New York Mellon Corp. | $12,784,000 | $29.07 | $7,383,780.00 |
| EA – Electronic Arts | $13,159,000 | $86.94 | $10,641,456.00 |
| PAYX – Paychex Inc. | $12,759,000 | $51.97 | $7,795,500.00 |
| FWONK – Liberty Media Corp Formula One Series C | $11,929,000 | $23.00 | $5,968,500.00 |
| COST – Costco Co. | $11,507,000 | $290.42 | $11,369,943.00 |
| DLTR – Dollar Tree Inc. | $11,578,000 | $75.97 | $9,351,907.00 |
| AMT – American Tower Corp. | $11,078,000 | $195.39 | $9,417,798.00 |
| VRSK – Verisk Analytics Inc. | $11,051,000 | $124.25 | $9,194,500.00 |
| FWONA – Liberty Media Corp Formula One Series A | $10,048,000 | $20.85 | $4,785,075.00 |
| PM – Philip Morris Intl. | $9,743,000 | $61.09 | $6,994,805.00 |
| CDK – CDK Global Inc. | $9,673,000 | $30.98 | $5,480,269.06 |
| WFC – Wells Fargo | $9,415,000 | $26.50 | $4,637,500.00 |
| MCK – McKesson Corp. | $8,728,000 | $124.97 | $7,885,607.00 |
| AON – Aon Corp. | $7,707,000 | $149.55 | $5,533,350.00 |
| CABO – Cable ONE Inc. | $7,740,000 | $1,270.76 | $6,607,952.00 |
| CCK – Crown Holdings | $8,124,000 | $46.96 | $5,259,520.00 |
| TRU – TransUnion | $7,448,000 | $54.98 | $4,783,260.00 |
| ALB – Albemarle Corp. | $5,332,000 | $53.43 | $3,900,390.00 |
| LBTYA – Liberty Global Inc. | $4,070,000 | $17.63 | $3,155,770.00 |
| OI – O-I Glass Inc. | $4,175,000 | $5.67 | $1,984,500.00 |
| TRUP – Trupanion Inc. | $4,120,000 | $23.84 | $2,622,400.00 |
| DISCA – Discovery Communications Inc. | $3,567,000 | $18.76 | $2,194,920.00 |
| GHC – Graham Holdings Co. | $3,323,000 | $317.12 | $1,649,024.00 |
| PAG – Penske Automotive Group | $3,615,000 | $22.09 | $1,590,480.00 |
| Y – Alleghany Corp. | $3,461,000 | $467.71 | $2,024,248.88 |
| BLL – Ball Corp. | $2,716,000 | $54.89 | $2,305,380.00 |
| AN – AutoNation Inc. | $2,120,000 | $26.50 | $1,155,665.00 |
| KHC – Kraft Heinz Co. | $2,185,000 | $22.28 | $1,515,040.00 |
| WRB – W.R. Berkley Corp. | $1,866,000 | $47.58 | $1,284,660.00 |
| C – Citigroup Inc. | $1,623,000 | $38.06 | $773,379.20 |
| DHI – D.R. Horton | $1,654,000 | $31.38 | $983,668.86 |
| SHAK – Shake Shack Inc. | $1,799,000 | $34.78 | $1,050,356.00 |
| BKNG – Booking Holdings Inc. | $411,000 | $1,177.43 | $235,486.00 |
| BUD – Anheuser-Busch InBev | $1,067,000 | $40.30 | $523,900.00 |
| LEN.B – Lennar Corp. CL B | $1,075,000 | $25.28 | $607,984.00 |
| IAC – IAC/InterActive Corp. | $286,000 | $130.75 | $150,362.50 |
| ILMN – Illumina Inc. | $332,000 | $242.00 | $242,000.00 |
| LEN – Lennar Corp. | $329,000 | $34.08 | $201,072.00 |
| Grand Total | $7,202,787,000 | $4,952,512,945.77 |
Article by Beowulf Capital
