Short Interest in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Increases By 28.1%

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,870,000 shares, a growth of 28.1% from the April 30th total of 2,240,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 937,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company's shares are short sold.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK traded up $3.82 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $321.33. The stock had a trading volume of 1,006,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 761,329. The company has a market capitalization of $44.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.87. Verisk Analytics has a 12-month low of $254.46 and a 12-month high of $321.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $299.26 and a 200-day moving average of $290.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.05. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The business had revenue of $753.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. Verisk Analytics's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.35%.

Verisk Analytics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRSK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $295.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $302.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CAO David J. Grover sold 5,705 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.68, for a total value of $1,755,314.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,980,456.16. The trade was a 30.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total transaction of $88,614.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. This trade represents a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,363 shares of company stock worth $2,529,187. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VRSK. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 747,337 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $205,839,000 after buying an additional 53,502 shares in the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 27.4% during the fourth quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 24,085 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,382,000 after buying an additional 5,187 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,619 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,726 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $475,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company's stock.

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.