VRSK Or TRU: Which Is The Better Stock Post Q4 Earnings?

The earnings season is at its tail end with bulk of the S&P 500 companies having reported results. Various analysis and comparisons are being done by industry peers to gauge the underlying metrics and relative performance. Let us perform a similar analysis of two leading players in the Business Services sector to pick the best investment option based on the fourth-quarter 2017 earnings scorecard.

Fourth-Quarter Earnings

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) reported solid results with healthy year-over-year increase in revenues and earnings. Net income from continuing operations improved to $204.6 million from $107.5 million in the year-earlier quarter on top-line growth. On a per share basis, net income from continuing operations increased to $1.22 from 63 cents in the year-ago quarter.

Adjusted earnings from continuing operations were $225.4 million or $1.34 per share compared with $135.4 million or 80 cents per share in the prior-year period. Excluding the benefit from the tax reform, adjusted earnings for the quarter were 81 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3 cents. Total revenues for the reported quarter improved 12.7% to $570.3 million due to modest organic growth across all businesses. The top line exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $557 million.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) reported strong results with healthy year-over-year increase in revenues and earnings on the back of attractive new product launches, rapid vertical growth and solid performance in the international markets. Adjusted earnings for the quarter were $94.8 million or 50 cents per share compared with $81.6 million or 44 cents per share in the year-earlier quarter. The bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny. GAAP earnings for the reported quarter were $245.1 million or $1.29 per share compared with $49.5 million or 27 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. The surge was aided by benefits from the newly enacted tax law.

Total quarterly revenues came in at $506.1 million compared with $435.9 million in the year-ago quarter. It surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $488 million. This healthy top-line growth was aided by strong year-over-year rise in revenues in each of its business segments.

Price Performance

In the last three months, Verisk has outperformed the industry with an average return of 8.2% compared with a 7.6% gain for the latter. TransUnion has underperformed the industry with an average return of 3.1% during the same time frame.

Estimate Revisions

Over the last 30 days, Verisk’s current-quarter estimates were revised upward to 91 cents per share from 82 cents while that for the current year increased from $3.53 to $3.96.

TransUnion’s current-quarter estimates were raised to 51 cents per share from 48 cents while that for the current year increased from $2.15 to $2.30 during the same time period.

To Sum Up

Based on the current scenario, although there is not much to choose from as the stocks seem to match on most counts, Verisk seems to have trumped TransUnion on the basis of positive estimate revisions and price performance and stands out as a better investment option.

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