Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Forecasted to Earn Q2 2024 Earnings of $1.62 Per Share

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) – Analysts at Zacks Research lifted their Q2 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Verisk Analytics in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, May 22nd. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the business services provider will earn $1.62 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $1.61. The consensus estimate for Verisk Analytics’ current full-year earnings is $6.55 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Verisk Analytics’ Q1 2025 earnings at $1.72 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.79 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.82 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $7.14 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $238.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verisk Analytics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.31.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK traded up $0.92 during trading on Friday, hitting $250.17. The company had a trading volume of 96,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 866,926. The company has a market cap of $35.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.50, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.79. Verisk Analytics has a 52 week low of $215.17 and a 52 week high of $254.14. The business’s 50-day moving average is $234.13 and its 200 day moving average is $237.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $704.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $699.07 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 268.19% and a net margin of 28.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share.

Institutional Trading of Verisk Analytics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Smithfield Trust Co boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 727 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 2.9% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 221 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 3.4% in the third quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 28.4% in the first quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 90.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,511 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total value of $376,057.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,066,200. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total transaction of $53,937.47. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,852,407.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,511 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total transaction of $376,057.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 52,500 shares in the company, valued at $13,066,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,304 shares of company stock valued at $2,648,390 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, June 15th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.10%.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 21st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.