Should You Increase Your Holdings in Verisk Analytics (VRSK)?

TimesSquare Capital Management, an equity investment management company, released its “U.S. Focus Growth Strategy” first-quarter investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the first quarter, the strategy returned 11.72% (gross) and 11.49% (net) compared to 9.50% for the Russell Midcap Growth Index. The first-quarter performance was barbelled, particularly for U.S. small- to mid-cap equities. The best-performing stocks were those with the highest quality (return on equity) or low valuations (price/earnings). Stocks with higher risk (beta) or stocks with hyper-growth expectations were also rewarded. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.

TimesSquare Capital U.S. Focus Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK), in the first quarter 2024 investor letter. Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) offers data analytics and technology solutions to the insurance markets. The one-month return of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) was 7.45%, and its shares gained 21.22% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On June 21, 2024, Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) stock closed at $270.32 per share with a market capitalization of $38.568 billion.

TimesSquare Capital U.S. Focus Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:

"There was some price weakness for Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK), which provides risk information and analysis for the property/casualty insurance industry. Its revenues and earnings were in line with expectations, though its guidance was more conservative. More notable from our perspective, pricing for auto insurance was strong, which bodes well for Verisk’s near-term growth prospects, so as its shares pulled back by -1% this quarter we added to our holdings."

An engineer using the latest predictive analytics software to formulate solutions.

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 47 hedge fund portfolios held Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) at the end of the first quarter which was 32 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

We discussed Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) in another article and shared Baron Asset Fund's views on the company.  In Q4 2023 investor letter, TimesSquare Capital Management U.S. Focus Growth Strategy mentioned that Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) stock price edged forward by 1%. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.