Rothschild Redb Downgrades Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) to Strong Sell

Key Points

• Rothschild Redb has downgraded Verisk Analytics from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell," signaling a significant shift in sentiment regarding the stock's performance.
• The company reported earnings of $1.88 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations but still faces varied ratings from multiple analysts with only one giving it a "strong buy."
• Verisk Analytics has seen substantial institutional investment, with 90% of its stock owned by institutional investors, indicating strong confidence from larger funds despite recent downgrades.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Rothschild Redb from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 price objective on Verisk Analytics and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Verisk Analytics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Verisk Analytics from $292.00 to $262.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $220.00 price target (down from $280.00) on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $299.33.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $229.06 on Thursday. The company's 50-day moving average is $256.89 and its 200 day moving average is $285.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.53. The company has a market capitalization of $32.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.85. Verisk Analytics has a fifty-two week low of $228.09 and a fifty-two week high of $322.92.

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

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.01, for a total value of $294,811.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 78,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,147,865.07. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher John Perry acquired 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $259.80 per share, for a total transaction of $259,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,773 shares of the company's stock, valued at $460,625.40. The trade was a 129.37% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,520 shares of company stock valued at $2,255,396 in the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the second quarter worth approximately $556,192,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the first quarter worth approximately $508,611,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 631.0% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,415,439 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $422,676,000 after buying an additional 1,221,798 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 36.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,251,051 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $669,958,000 after buying an additional 596,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 35.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,653,727 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $492,182,000 after buying an additional 434,053 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

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.

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