Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $291.66 and last traded at $291.49, with a volume of 2553 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $290.73.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VRSK shares. Barclays raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.80.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36. The firm has a market cap of $41.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.36, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $272.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $268.59.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The business had revenue of $725.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. Verisk Analytics’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total transaction of $54,266.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 15,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,289,184.64. The trade was a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.71, for a total value of $280,710.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,163 shares in the company, valued at $14,923,385.73. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,400 shares of company stock valued at $678,764. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRSK. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 72.4% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,464 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $495,000. BOKF NA increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. BOKF NA now owns 5,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 565.2% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 79,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,795,000 after acquiring an additional 67,744 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 35.6% during the 1st quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 15,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,747,000 after acquiring an additional 4,169 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.