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Verisk Adds Cyber Catastrophe Element to PCS Global Cyber

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Verisk Analytics, Inc.’s (VRSK - Free Report) business, Property Claim Services (“PCS”), yesterday announced that it has enhanced PCS Global Cyber service with coverage for cyber catastrophe events.

This enhancement is aimed at expanding specialty lines risk loss aggregation solutions to provide insurers and reinsurers with more flexibility, deeper insights of loss events and improved response to accidents. Users can also have an unbiased view of broad cyber catastrophe events across the world.

Tom Johansmeyer, co-head of PCS said, “the latest iteration of PCS Global Cyber helps risk bearers address any silent exposure they may have lurking in their portfolios while also taking an active approach to the cyber business they purposely write.”

The latest move comes on the heels of Verisk’s catastrophe modeling firm — AIR Worldwide (“AIR”) — partnering with global reinsurance broker, Capsicum Re. The partnership involves development of models that will enable assessment and quantification of silent cyber risks.

So far this year, shares of Verisk have rallied 25.7%, outperforming the 19.1% increase of the industry it belongs to.

Verisk’s Insurance Segment Should Benefit

We believe that the performance of Verisk’s insurance segment should be driven by strategic moves like the latest one. This division provides analytics in the areas of fraud detection, catastrophe modeling, loss estimation and underwriting.

In the second quarter of 2018, revenues from this segment totaled $429.4 million, up 12.3% year over year on a reported basis and 8.4% at organic constant-currency basis. Within the segment, underwriting and rating revenues of $288.9 million rose 10.3% on a reported basis and 6.2% at organic constant-currency basis. The uptick can be attributed to strength in the company’s catastrophe modeling services as well as underwriting solutions.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Verisk currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A few better-ranked stocks in the broader Business Services sector include Heidrick & Struggles International (HSII - Free Report) , BG Staffing (BGSF - Free Report) and Insperity (NSP - Free Report) . While Heidrick & Struggles International sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), BG Staffing and Insperity carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The long-term expected EPS (three to five years) growth rate for Heidrick & Struggles International, BG Staffing and Insperity is 13.5%, 20% and 18%, respectively.

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