Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) was the target of a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,450,000 shares, a growth of 33.9% from the July 31st total of 1,830,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 761,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.38, for a total value of $55,476.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,551,251.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.22, for a total value of $88,743.72. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,033,483.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.38, for a total value of $55,476.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,551,251.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 726 shares of company stock worth $196,682. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VRSK. Westpac Banking Corp increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 94.8% in the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 1,243 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 225.5% in the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 205,110 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $48,993,000 after buying an additional 142,088 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P. increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 64.2% in the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 8,231 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,966,000 after buying an additional 3,219 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter valued at about $698,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 41,041 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,803,000 after buying an additional 7,692 shares during the period. 90.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

Shares of VRSK stock traded up $0.24 on Thursday, hitting $271.71. 342,917 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 823,070. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.86, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Verisk Analytics has a 12 month low of $215.32 and a 12 month high of $287.13. The stock has a market cap of $38.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50 day moving average of $271.45 and a 200 day moving average of $251.67.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $716.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.45 million. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 252.11% and a net margin of 32.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Verisk Analytics will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRSK. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Verisk Analytics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $268.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $268.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Verisk Analytics from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Verisk Analytics from $278.00 to $263.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $273.54.

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.