Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $287.21 and last traded at $286.53, with a volume of 189969 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $280.34.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on VRSK shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $263.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $279.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.80.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $270.04 and a 200 day moving average of $264.24. The company has a market cap of $40.24 billion, a PE ratio of 44.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $725.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 15,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,289,184.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Diversified Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the second quarter valued at $1,325,000. OFI Invest Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2,181.7% during the second quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 2,875 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $723,000 after acquiring an additional 2,749 shares in the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the first quarter valued at $2,340,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 15.8% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 183,252 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,198,000 after acquiring an additional 24,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 25.8% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 20,825 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,909,000 after acquiring an additional 4,277 shares in the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.