Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $299.33.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VRSK. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays cut Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total transaction of $348,229.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,071,832.96. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,648 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,047. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,981,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,000. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at $3,044,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,581 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $711,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Verisk Analytics stock opened at $289.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $40.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. Verisk Analytics has a one year low of $217.34 and a one year high of $306.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $287.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $279.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The firm had revenue of $735.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $733.55 million. As a group, analysts predict that Verisk Analytics will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is currently 26.87%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.