Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Stock Now Rated "Moderate Buy" by Sell-Side Brokerages

Key Points

• Verisk Analytics has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from 15 analysts: eight recommend holding, six recommend buying, and one gives a strong-buy rating. The average 12-month price target is $226.71, above the reported share price of $177.63.
• The company’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $1.98 versus the $1.93 consensus and revenue of $806.3 million versus estimates of $804.02 million. Revenue increased 4.3% year over year.
• Verisk pays a quarterly dividend of $0.50, or $2.00 annually, representing a 1.1% yield and a 30.72% payout ratio; meanwhile, insiders sold 15,925 shares worth approximately $3.07 million during the latest quarter.

Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $226.71.

Several research firms have recently commented on VRSK. Weiss Ratings upgraded Verisk Analytics from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $185.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Evercore set a $223.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

VRSK opened at $177.63 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.69. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $180.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.26. Verisk Analytics has a 1-year low of $155.94 and a 1-year high of $248.21.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.05. Verisk Analytics had a negative return on equity of 239.55% and a net margin of 28.24%. The business had revenue of $806.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $804.02 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.750 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is currently 30.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 3,535 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.70, for a total value of $603,424.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 98,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,812,243. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.91, for a total transaction of $73,964.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 17,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,325,421.44. This represents a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 15,925 shares of company stock worth $3,074,216 over the last quarter. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Titan Wealth CI Ltd purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Verisk Analytics by 47.8% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 204 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth about $36,000. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Company Profile

Verisk Analytics, Inc is a data analytics and technology company that provides information, software and predictive insights primarily to the insurance industry. Its solutions help insurers assess risk, support underwriting, manage claims, detect fraud and improve pricing and operational decision-making across property and casualty, life and specialty insurance markets.

The company's offerings include industry data and standardized insurance information through its ISO business, catastrophe modeling and risk analytics through Extreme Event Solutions and AIR Worldwide, and property estimating and claims-management tools through Xactware.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.