Verisk Analytics, Inc. provides data analytics solutions in the United States and internationally. The company provides predictive analytics and decision support solutions to customers in rating, underwriting, claims, catastrophe and weather risk, global risk analytics, natural resources intelligence, economic forecasting, commercial banking and finance, and various other fields. It operates in three segments: Insurance, Energy and Specialized Markets, and Financial Services. The Insurance segment focuses on the prediction of loss, selection and pricing of risk, and compliance with their reporting requirements for property and casualty customers, as well as develops machine learned and artificially intelligent models to forecast scenarios and produce standard and customized analytics that help its customers to manage their businesses, including detecting fraud before and after a loss event, and quantifying losses. The Energy and Specialized Markets segment provides data analytics for the natural resources value chain, including energy, chemicals, metals, mining, power, and renewables sectors; research and consulting services focusing on supporting customer capital allocation decisions, asset valuation and benchmarking, commodity markets, and corporate analysis; and consultancy services in the areas of business environment, business improvement, business strategies, commercial advisory, and transaction support, as well as analysis and advice on assets, companies, governments, and markets. The Financial Services segment offers benchmarking, decisioning algorithms, business intelligence, and customized analytic services to financial institutions, payment networks and processors, alternative lenders, regulators, and merchants. The company was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VRSK. Barclays cut their price target on Verisk Analytics from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verisk Analytics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $197.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 19th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $216.18.
Verisk Analytics Stock Performance
VRSK opened at $202.15 on Thursday. Verisk Analytics has a twelve month low of $156.05 and a twelve month high of $231.57. The stock has a market cap of $31.73 billion, a PE ratio of 31.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.85. The business's 50 day moving average is $177.53 and its 200-day moving average is $188.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.
Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.12. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 34.37% and a return on equity of 35.21%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Verisk Analytics will post 5.78 earnings per share for the current year.
Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.14%.
Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics
In other news, CEO Scott G. Stephenson sold 2,144 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.82, for a total transaction of $370,526.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 712,256 shares of the company's stock, valued at $123,092,081.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Verisk Analytics news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 487 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.42, for a total transaction of $84,455.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 42,479 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,366,708.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott G. Stephenson sold 2,144 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.82, for a total transaction of $370,526.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 712,256 shares in the company, valued at $123,092,081.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,987 shares of company stock worth $2,585,905 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.78% of the company's stock.
