Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (RYAN) Stock Price & How to Invest

Last updated October 2026

Short answer

Ryan Specialty (NYSE: RYAN) is a specialty insurance intermediary that runs wholesale brokerage and delegated-underwriting (MGU) businesses, so investing in it is a bet on continued growth in the excess and surplus (E&S) insurance market and on the firm's acquisition-driven expansion. As of October 16, 2026, the stock closed at $40.19 (market cap about $10.3 billion), down about 21% year to date as softening property rates slowed growth, even though its Q2 2026 earnings beat estimates.

RYAN stock price

As of 2026-10-23, Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (RYAN) last closed at $43.68, down 17.9% over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks it has traded between $29.39 and $58.38.

RYAN last close
$43.68
1 day
-1.82%
1 month
+20.76%
1 year
-17.93%
52-week range
$29.39 to $58.38
Last close
2026-10-23

Prices are daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. For the live quote, check your broker or Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc.'s investor relations page. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.

What does Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (RYAN) do?

Ryan Specialty Holdings is an international specialty insurance intermediary founded by Patrick Ryan (who also founded Aon). It sits between retail insurance brokers and carriers, operating two core engines: wholesale brokerage (led by RT Specialty, one of the largest E&S and binding-authority platforms in the US) and underwriting management, where its managing general underwriters (MGUs) hold delegated authority from carriers to underwrite niche risks in areas like energy, healthcare, construction, and enterprise risk. It does not take underwriting risk on its own balance sheet; it earns commissions and fees for placing and structuring hard-to-place specialty coverage.

The investment picture is one of a fast-growing, acquisitive distributor riding the multi-year shift of business into the excess and surplus lines market, now meeting a softer pricing cycle. Revenue reached roughly $795 million in Q1 2026 (up about 15% year over year, with organic growth near 12%) and about $917 million in Q2 2026, its seasonally largest quarter, where total revenue growth slowed to about 7% year over year. Q2 net income was about $108 million and adjusted EPS of $0.74 beat the $0.60 consensus. Trailing-twelve-month revenue is about $3.2 billion. The company has partnered with 55-plus firms through acquisition since inception. The tension is cyclicality and leverage: management has flagged that pronounced property-rate declines and intensifying competition are pressuring organic growth and margins in 2026, and the company carries about $3.8 billion of debt against about $140 million of cash. As of October 16, 2026, the stock at $40.19 is down about 21% YTD and about 23% over one year, within a 52-week range of roughly $29 to $59. Third-quarter results are scheduled for October 29, 2026, with consensus EPS of about $0.49 on revenue near $793 million.

What's driving Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (RYAN)?

1. E&S market tailwind

Ryan Specialty is a leading intermediary in the excess and surplus lines market, which has grown for years as more complex, catastrophe-exposed, and hard-to-place risks flow out of the standard admitted market. As long as this structural migration continues, it feeds Ryan's wholesale placement and binding-authority volumes, even if falling property rates reduce the commission earned on each placement.

2. Delegated underwriting (MGU) mix

The Underwriting Management specialty, where MGUs hold delegated authority from carriers, generated a meaningful share of net commissions and fees and carries attractive economics. Expanding this higher-margin, stickier business is a core part of the growth story and helps diversify away from pure brokerage.

3. Acquisition-led expansion

Ryan has built scale through 55-plus acquisitions of specialty firms and MGUs across geographies, and continues to acquire teams and books to add niches and international reach. Deployed capital and integration of these deals contribute a few points of growth on top of organic gains, but they also explain the roughly $3.8 billion of debt and a debt-to-equity ratio near 375%.

4. Organic growth engine and cash generation

The firm has posted double-digit organic growth for several years, driven by new business wins, share gains from retail brokers, and specialty expertise. Growth is slowing as insurance pricing normalizes: consensus expects only about 3% revenue growth in Q3 2026 and about 10% for full-year 2026, then about 13% EPS growth in 2027. Trailing free cash flow of about $585 million against EBITDA of about $909 million gives the company room to keep acquiring and paying down debt.

What are the risks to Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (RYAN)?

The biggest near-term risk is insurance-pricing cyclicality: management has pointed to pronounced property-rate declines and intensifying competition, guiding to mid-single-digit organic growth and a modest margin decline for the year, with one quarter guided near zero organic growth. Softer rates directly reduce commission-based revenue, and Q2 2026 revenue growth already slowed to about 7%. Reported profit is thin, with trailing net income of about $99 million (a 3% profit margin) because of amortization, interest, and acquisition-related costs, so the trailing P/E sits near 57x. Acquisition-heavy growth brings integration, goodwill, and leverage risk, and the company carries about $3.8 billion of debt. Analysts have been trimming price targets into the Q3 report. Finally, it depends on relationships with carriers for delegated underwriting capacity, which can tighten in a downturn, and it operates in a competitive field against larger and well-capitalized wholesalers.

What is the Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (RYAN) forecast?

16 analysts publish price targets on RYAN, averaging $49.09 against a $40.75 price as of October 2026, or +20.5%. The published targets run from $38.00 to $76.00, a wide spread, and the ratings split 9 buy, 9 hold, 1 sell. Over the last six months there have been 8 raises and 4 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full RYAN forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

Is RYAN a buy or a sell?

We give no verdict on Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc.. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. E&S market tailwind. Ryan Specialty is a leading intermediary in the excess and surplus lines market, which has grown for years as more complex, catastrophe-exposed, and hard-to-place risks flow out of the standard admitted market. The most optimistic published target, $76.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. The biggest near-term risk is insurance-pricing cyclicality: management has pointed to pronounced property-rate declines and intensifying competition, guiding to mid-single-digit organic growth and a modest margin decline for the year, with one quarter guided near zero organic growth. The most pessimistic target, $38.00, is roughly what RYAN is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on RYAN, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Has Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (RYAN) split its stock?

No. Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (RYAN) has not split its stock in the last 10 years. That is a statement about the window we check rather than about the company’s entire history, so an older split is possible. It also matters less than it once did: fractional shares mean a high price per share no longer keeps smaller investors out, which removed most of the practical reason to split.

How is Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (RYAN) valued? (approximate, October 2026)

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.

  • Revenue (TTM): ~$3.2B
  • Q2 2026 revenue: ~$917M (up ~7% YoY)
  • Operating margin (TTM): ~25%
  • Net income (TTM): ~$99M
  • Q2 2026 adj. EPS vs estimate: ~$0.74 vs ~$0.60
  • P/E (trailing / forward): ~57x / ~16x
  • Dividend yield: ~1.3%
  • Market cap: ~$10.3B

At $40.19 on October 16, 2026, Ryan Specialty trades at about 57 times trailing reported earnings but only about 16 times forward earnings and about 10 times EV/EBITDA, cheaper than in July after a roughly 21% YTD decline. The gap between trailing and forward multiples reflects acquisition amortization and interest that hold down reported profit. Q3 results on October 29, 2026 will show whether organic growth is holding as property rates soften.

Who competes with Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (RYAN)?

Large wholesale brokers

Amwins and CRC Group are the other two members of the big-three wholesalers alongside Ryan's RT Specialty, competing directly on E&S placement, binding authority, and specialty breadth. Amwins is generally the largest by premium placed.

Public diversified brokers

Arthur J. Gallagher (via Risk Placement Services) and Brown & Brown (via Bridge Specialty) run sizable wholesale and program platforms, making them the closest public-company comparables and competitors for talent, teams, and acquisitions.

MGUs and program specialists

A fragmented field of managing general agents, MGUs, and program administrators competes for delegated underwriting authority and niche specialty books, the higher-margin business Ryan is trying to expand.

What stocks are similar to Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (RYAN)?

Other names that sit close to RYAN: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

How to invest in Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (RYAN)

There are three common ways to get RYAN exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so RYAN sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where RYAN fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

The bottom line on Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (RYAN)

RYAN is a growth-oriented play on specialty and E&S insurance distribution whose share price has de-rated in 2026, with property-rate softening, a heavy debt load, and integration risk as the main things to weigh against a forward P/E now near 16x.

More on Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (RYAN)

Whether RYAN is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is RYAN a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the RYAN stock forecast.

For income investors, whether RYAN pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does RYAN pay a dividend? And to weigh RYAN against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: RYAN vs CRC and RYAN vs AJG.

Wondering how RYAN fits the portfolio you already own? Walnut is an AI investing app that connects your brokerage read-only and answers questions like that about your actual holdings: overlap, concentration, and how each position tracks the S&P 500. Compare the best AI portfolio analyzers or see the best AI investing apps in 2026.

Investing in Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. with AI

Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how RYAN fits what you actually hold: whether you own it already through a fund, what it would do to your concentration, and how it has tracked the S&P 500. Read-only by default, and you approve anything before it reaches your broker.

FAQ

What does Ryan Specialty do?

+

It is a specialty insurance intermediary that connects retail insurance brokers with carriers. It runs wholesale brokerage (placing hard-to-place risks, largely in the E&S market) and underwriting management, where its MGUs hold delegated authority to underwrite niche risks for carriers. It earns commissions and fees, not underwriting profit.

Does Ryan Specialty take on insurance risk?

+

No. Ryan is an intermediary and distributor, not a risk-bearing insurer. It places coverage and underwrites on behalf of carriers under delegated authority, earning commissions and fees. The underwriting risk sits with the carriers that provide the capacity.

What is the excess and surplus (E&S) market and why does it matter to RYAN?

+

E&S covers risks that the standard admitted insurance market will not write, such as complex, catastrophe-exposed, or emerging exposures. Ryan is a leading wholesale intermediary in E&S, so the multi-year growth of that market has been a key tailwind for its placement volumes.

How did Ryan Specialty perform in Q1 2026?

+

Revenue was roughly $795 million, up about 15% year over year, with organic growth near 12%. The company returned to a quarterly net profit of about $18 million, and adjusted EPS of $0.47 beat the $0.43 consensus. Adjusted EBITDA margin was around 29%.

Why is RYAN's P/E so high?

+

The trailing P/E near 57x (October 2026) reflects reported earnings held down by acquisition amortization, interest on about $3.8 billion of debt, and other non-cash items; trailing net income is only about $99 million. The forward P/E is far lower, near 16x, because it is based on adjusted earnings that analysts expect to reach about $2.44 per share.

What are the main risks for Ryan Specialty?

+

Softening property-insurance rates and rising competition are pressuring organic growth and margins, and much of the revenue is commission-based and cyclical. Acquisition-heavy expansion brings integration and leverage risk, with about $3.8 billion of debt, and the stock has already fallen about 21% in 2026 as growth slowed.

Who competes with Ryan Specialty?

+

Its closest wholesale rivals are Amwins and CRC Group, the other members of the big-three wholesalers. Public comparables include Arthur J. Gallagher (Risk Placement Services) and Brown & Brown (Bridge Specialty), plus a fragmented field of MGAs and program specialists.

Does Ryan Specialty pay a dividend?

+

Yes, a modest one. As of October 2026 the annual rate is about $0.52 per share, a yield near 1.3%. Ryan Specialty has historically prioritized reinvestment and acquisitions, so income has not been the main reason investors hold it, and capital-return policy can change.

How did Ryan Specialty do in its latest quarter?

+

In Q2 2026, Ryan Specialty reported revenue of about $917 million, up about 7% year over year, and net income of about $108 million. Adjusted EPS of $0.74 beat the $0.60 consensus by a wide margin. Q3 2026 results are scheduled for October 29, 2026, with consensus EPS near $0.49 on revenue of about $793 million.

How has RYAN stock performed in 2026?

+

As of October 16, 2026, RYAN closed at $40.19, down about 21% year to date and about 23% over one year. It has traded between roughly $29 and $59 over the past 52 weeks, and has been roughly flat over the past three months as the Q2 beat offset worries about the property pricing cycle.

Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Financial figures on this page are approximations; always verify current numbers with Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker before making investment decisions.