Allstate Corp Purchases New Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Allstate Corp acquired a new position in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 4,209 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,159,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 1.7% in the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,508 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in shares of Verisk Analytics by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 897 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 974 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Bell Bank raised its position in shares of Verisk Analytics by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 1,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Price Performance

NASDAQ VRSK opened at $294.58 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.32 billion, a PE ratio of 45.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.89. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.34 and a 12 month high of $306.10. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $290.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $281.46.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $733.55 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.87%.

Insider Activity

In other Verisk Analytics news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 2,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.06, for a total transaction of $595,428.66. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,155.96. The trade was a 18.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce Edward Hansen sold 1,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.81, for a total transaction of $321,642.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,760,958.66. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,648 shares of company stock worth $1,613,047. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays downgraded Verisk Analytics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Verisk Analytics from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $299.33.

Verisk Analytics 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.