Short Interest in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Increases By 25.1%

Key Points

• Short interest jumped 25.1% to 6,064,945 shares as of March 31 (about 4.7% of shares outstanding), leaving a short-interest ratio of roughly 3.5 days based on average daily volume.
• The board authorized a $2.5 billion buyback (up to 10.1% of shares) and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.50 ($2.00 annualized), a 1.1% yield with a ~30.8% payout ratio.
• Verisk beat quarterly EPS estimates ($1.82 vs. $1.60) with revenue up 5.8% year-over-year and provided FY2026 guidance of $7.45–$7.75 per share, while consensus for the current year is about $6.63.

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 6,064,945 shares, an increase of 25.1% from the March 15th total of 4,849,829 shares. Approximately 4.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,741,914 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $176.84 on Thursday. Verisk Analytics has a 1-year low of $161.70 and a 1-year high of $322.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.17 billion, a PE ratio of 27.25, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.82. The business's 50 day moving average is $190.10 and its 200-day moving average is $212.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.42.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.22. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 357.00% and a net margin of 29.56%.The company had revenue of $778.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $773.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. Verisk Analytics's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Verisk Analytics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.450-7.75 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Verisk Analytics will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 18th that permits the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is 30.82%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Christopher John Perry purchased 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $180.00 per share, with a total value of $180,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $538,920. This represents a 50.15% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 400 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.71, for a total value of $81,884.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 20,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,172,808.64. This represents a 1.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Verisk Analytics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Reflection Asset Management acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on VRSK. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $223.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price target on Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $239.00 to $206.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.20.

Verisk Analytics Company Profile

Verisk Analytics, Inc NASDAQ: VRSK is a data analytics and decision‑support provider that helps organizations assess and manage risk. The company supplies data, predictive models and software to customers in insurance, reinsurance, financial services, government, energy and other commercial markets. Its offerings are designed to support underwriting, pricing, claims management, catastrophe modeling, fraud detection and regulatory compliance, enabling clients to make more informed operational and strategic decisions.

Verisk's product portfolio combines large proprietary datasets with analytics platforms and industry‑specific applications.

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