Zacks Research Cuts Earnings Estimates for Verisk Analytics

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research lowered their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Verisk Analytics in a report released on Wednesday, March 19th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the business services provider will earn $1.67 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $1.72. The consensus estimate for Verisk Analytics’ current full-year earnings is $6.63 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Verisk Analytics’ Q2 2025 earnings at $1.78 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.76 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.76 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $6.97 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.93 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.97 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.99 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $7.77 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $8.51 EPS.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 274.13% and a net margin of 32.65%. The company had revenue of $735.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.55 million.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays downgraded Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Verisk Analytics from $298.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $299.33.

Verisk Analytics Stock Performance

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $287.68 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $217.34 and a fifty-two week high of $306.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $288.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $280.63. The firm has a market cap of $40.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.88, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verisk Analytics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 111 Capital acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $317,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,240 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,850,000 after buying an additional 4,137 shares in the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,985,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,981,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Verisk Analytics

In other Verisk Analytics news, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total value of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,760,958.66. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total value of $595,428.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. This trade represents a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047 in the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verisk Analytics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is an increase from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.87%.

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.