Markel Gears Up to Buy Back (More) Stock

As one of the world's most talented stock pickers, Markel (NYSE: MKL) CIO and co-CEO Tom Gayner has built a portfolio that helped his company consistently trounce the broader market's returns for decades. Of course, the financial holding company and so-called mini-Berkshire Hathaway can also thank its acquired businesses (operating under Markel Ventures) and its specialty insurance segment for helping it weather market downturns and further fuel its comprehensive gains.

But even with this three-tiered approach maximizing its returns, sometimes the best use of Markel's capital is to simply buy back its own stock -- at least, provided it trades at a big enough discount to its true value. And Markel might be gearing up to do exactly that.

According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing from the company late last month, Markel's board recently approved a new $300 million share repurchase authorization.

Source Fool.com