Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Hits New 52-Week High Following Dividend Announcement

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The company 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Verisk Analytics's payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "in-line" rating and issued a $279.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Verisk Analytics from $285.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verisk Analytics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $285.80.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

The company's 50-day moving average price is $270.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $265.91. The company has a market capitalization of $40.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.25, a PEG ratio of 3.61 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $725.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.19 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The business's revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of Verisk Analytics 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,289,184.64. This trade represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VRSK. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the second quarter worth $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the second quarter worth $34,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics during the second quarter worth about $46,000. 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.