Zacks Research Predicts Weaker Earnings for Verisk Analytics

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Free Report) - Zacks Research cut their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Verisk Analytics in a report issued on Wednesday, November 20th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the business services provider will post earnings of $6.59 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $6.60. The consensus estimate for Verisk Analytics' current full-year earnings is $6.63 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Verisk Analytics' Q1 2025 earnings at $1.72 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.81 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.82 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $7.16 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on VRSK. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an "in-line" rating and set a $279.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $285.80.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Verisk Analytics stock traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $291.49. 667,137 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 785,657. Verisk Analytics has a 52-week low of $217.34 and a 52-week high of $293.19. The stock has a market cap of $41.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm's 50 day moving average is $272.66 and its 200 day moving average is $268.59.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report) last released 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 in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Verisk Analytics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verisk Analytics news, CEO Lee Shavel sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.71, for a total transaction of $280,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 53,163 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,923,385.73. This trade represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.33, for a total value of $54,266.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,289,184.64. This trade represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,400 shares of company stock worth $678,764. Insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Verisk Analytics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRSK. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,618,971 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,237,700,000 after purchasing an additional 283,653 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 2,380.6% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 272,965 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $73,144,000 after buying an additional 261,961 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its position in Verisk Analytics by 60.4% during the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 541,426 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $145,941,000 after acquiring an additional 203,951 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in Verisk Analytics by 46.7% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 614,831 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $164,750,000 after acquiring an additional 195,700 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter valued at $28,739,000. Hedge funds and other 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.