Royal Bank of Canada Reduces Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. $VRSK

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada has reduced its ownership in Verisk Analytics, Inc. by 18.5%, now holding 892,616 shares worth approximately $265.66 million.
• The company has reported a 7.8% increase in quarterly revenue compared to the previous year, with an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.88, beating analyst estimates.
• Verisk Analytics announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, with a dividend yield of 0.7%, set to be paid on September 30th.

Royal Bank of Canada reduced its holdings in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) by 18.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 892,616 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 202,201 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.64% of Verisk Analytics worth $265,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Louisbourg Investments Inc. bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 966.7% in the 1st quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 128 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 186.7% in the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.01, for a total value of $294,811.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 78,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,147,865.07. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 5,420 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.00, for a total value of $1,436,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 54,337 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,399,305. This trade represents a 9.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,621 shares of company stock worth $7,574,943. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 0.1%

VRSK stock traded up $0.26 during trading on Friday, hitting $270.31. 1,004,964 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 975,306. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.77 billion, a PE ratio of 41.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.86. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $259.01 and a 1 year high of $322.92. The company has a 50-day moving average of $283.02 and a 200-day moving average of $293.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.53.

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

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRSK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $320.00 target price for the company. Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 target price on Verisk Analytics and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.