Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Dividend Announcement

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $291.97 and last traded at $291.97, with a volume of 937 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $290.04.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Verisk Analytics’s payout ratio is 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.80.

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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $270.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $265.91. The company has a market cap of $41.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.86.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total value of $54,266.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,289,184.64. 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 accessible through this link. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 0.8% during the third quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,322,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.5% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,586 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $693,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 1.2% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Verisk Analytics by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,465 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $664,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.