Why Verisk Analytics' Shares Popped

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Verisk Analytics jumped 10% today after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings.

So what: Revenue rose 18% to $415.7 million and topped estimates of $409.6 million from analysts. On the bottom line, earnings per share rose 34% from a year ago to $0.63, easily hurdling the $0.54 bar Wall Street had set.

Now what: Verisk had strong growth across its business, with health-care revenue nearly doubling from a year ago. The challenge is that some of that revenue was due to acquisitions -- health care's organic growth of 28.5% was far lower than 89.1% overall growth. With shares trading at 23 times forward earnings, I'd like to see more organic growth from the business. This quarter was great, but I'd prefer to see a pullback before jumping in at inflated prices.

Interested in more info on Verisk Analytics? Add it to your watchlist by clicking here.

The article Why Verisk Analytics' Shares Popped originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Travis Hoium has no position in any stocks mentioned. You can follow Travis on Twitter at @FlushDrawFool, check out his personal stock holdings, or follow his CAPS picks at TMFFlushDraw. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.