Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the fourteen analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $254.31.

VRSK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $238.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $251.58 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $234.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $237.92. Verisk Analytics has a 12 month low of $215.17 and a 12 month high of $254.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.89 billion, a PE ratio of 46.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.79.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.11. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 28.45% and a return on equity of 268.19%. The company had revenue of $704.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $699.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Verisk Analytics will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 21st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total transaction of $346,433.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 51,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,528,824.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total value of $53,937.47. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,852,407.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,554 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.93, for a total value of $346,433.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 51,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,528,824.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,304 shares of company stock valued at $2,648,390. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westpac Banking Corp grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 94.8% during the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 1,243 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 346,646 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $82,800,000 after acquiring an additional 34,077 shares during the last quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 421.9% during the 4th quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. now owns 75,404 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,011,000 after acquiring an additional 60,957 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 41,041 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,803,000 after purchasing an additional 7,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 522,386 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $124,777,000 after purchasing an additional 28,008 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Company Profile

Verisk Analytics, Inc provides data analytics and technology solutions to the insurance markets in the United States and internationally. It offers policy language, prospective loss costs, policy writing and rating rules, and various underwriting solutions for risk selection and segmentation, pricing, and workflow optimization; property- and auto- specific rating and underwriting information solutions that allows clients to understand, quantify, underwrite, mitigate, and avoid potential loss for risks; catastrophe modeling solutions, which enables companies to identify, quantify, and plan for the financial consequences of catastrophes for use by insurers, reinsurers, intermediaries, financial institutions, and governments.