Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK Holdings Lifted by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 37.5%, acquiring an additional 51,500 shares, bringing its total to 188,893 shares worth approximately $56.2 million.
• Verisk Analytics reported a 7.8% increase in revenue year-over-year, with earnings per share of $1.88, surpassing the consensus estimate by $0.11.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 0.7%, reflecting a payout ratio of 27.73%.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 37.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 188,893 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 51,500 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.14% of Verisk Analytics worth $56,218,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Louisbourg Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 966.7% during the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 128 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the first quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 186.7% during the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In related news, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 11,656 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.06, for a total value of $3,649,027.36. Following the transaction, the director owned 67,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,051,406.64. This represents a 14.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,420 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.00, for a total transaction of $1,436,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 54,337 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,399,305. The trade was a 9.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 25,621 shares of company stock valued at $7,574,943. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of VRSK stock traded up $1.80 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $270.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 488,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 905,671. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $259.01 and a one year high of $322.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.86. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $284.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $294.23.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $772.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.91 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 460.89% and a net margin of 30.67%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.800-7.000 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VRSK. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $320.00 price objective for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $306.91.

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.