Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Receives “In-Line” Rating from Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI restated their in-line rating on shares of Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Evercore ISI currently has a $279.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock.

VRSK has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Verisk Analytics to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $255.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $276.69.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

VRSK opened at $265.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. Verisk Analytics has a 52-week low of $215.32 and a 52-week high of $287.13. The firm has a market cap of $37.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s fifty day moving average is $268.40 and its 200-day moving average is $256.91.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.10. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 252.11%. The firm had revenue of $716.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Verisk Analytics will post 6.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 15th were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is presently 29.10%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.38, for a total value of $55,476.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,408 shares in the company, valued at $4,551,251.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth $41,000. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.