Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $312.98 and last traded at $312.54, with a volume of 63931 shares. The stock had previously closed at $309.57.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $294.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.69. The company has a market capitalization of $43.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.85, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 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 company had revenue of $753.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is 26.35%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.36, for a total transaction of $348,229.44. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at $4,071,832.96. This trade represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total transaction of $88,614.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,665 shares in the company, valued at $4,922,507.70. This represents a 1.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,363 shares of company stock valued at $2,529,187. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Louisbourg Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the first quarter worth $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 468.8% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 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.