Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $278.67.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $279.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total value of $54,266.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 15,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,289,184.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 60.4% in the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 541,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,941,000 after buying an additional 203,951 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter valued at $28,739,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 187.1% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 171,835 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $46,305,000 after purchasing an additional 111,992 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,618,266 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $436,204,000 after purchasing an additional 111,364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 33.7% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 373,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $100,758,000 after purchasing an additional 94,300 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Stock Up 0.2 %

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $268.09 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics has a 1-year low of $215.32 and a 1-year high of $287.13. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $268.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $260.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.10. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 252.11% and a net margin of 32.03%. The company had revenue of $716.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.10%.

About Verisk Analytics

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.