UBS Group Raises Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) Price Target to $320.00

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) had its price objective raised by UBS Group from $295.00 to $320.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on VRSK. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.40.

Verisk Analytics Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRSK opened at $301.27 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $292.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $287.44. 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 has a one year low of $245.01 and a one year high of $312.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.14 billion, a PE ratio of 47.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.05. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 32.65% and a return on equity of 274.13%. The firm had revenue of $753.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $750.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.35%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In related news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.38, for a total value of $88,614.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,922,507.70. This represents a 1.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.86, for a total transaction of $337,028.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,940,865.96. This trade represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,363 shares of company stock worth $2,529,187 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 468.8% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Louisbourg Investments Inc. bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.