Verisk Analytics 10-K 2021-12-31

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 FORM 10-K

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021

or

For the transition period from            to         

Commission file number 001-34480

VERISK ANALYTICS, INC. 

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(201) 469-3000

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.  ☑  Yes    ☐  No

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.   ☐  Yes    ☑  No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.     ☑   Yes    ☐  No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).    ☑  Yes     ☐  No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management's assessment on the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☑

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).    ☐  Yes    ☑  No

As of June 30, 2021, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, the aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $27,228,949,452 based on the closing price reported on the NASDAQ Global Select Market on such date.

As of February 18, 2022, there were 161,282,942 shares outstanding of the registrant's Common Stock, par value $.001.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Certain information required by Part III of this annual report on Form 10-K is incorporated by reference to our definitive Proxy Statement for our 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than 120 days after December 31, 2021.

INDEX

Unless the context otherwise indicates or requires, as used in this annual report on Form 10-K, references to “we,” “us,” “our” or the “Company” refer to Verisk Analytics, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

In this annual report on Form 10-K, all dollar amounts are expressed in millions, unless indicated otherwise.

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Verisk Analytics, Inc. ("Verisk") has made statements under the captions “Business,” “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and in other sections of this annual report on Form 10-K that are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “shou

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Index to Consolidated Financial Statements and Schedule

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of Verisk Analytics, Inc.

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Verisk Analytics, Inc. and subsidiaries (the "Company") as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income, stockholders' equity, and cash flows, for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2021, and the related notes and the schedule listed in the Index at Item 15 (collectively referred to as the "financial statements"). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2021, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and our report dated February 22, 2022, expressed an unqualified opinion on the Company's internal control over financial reporting.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matter

The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current-period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.

Goodwill - Energy and Specialized Markets and Financial Services Reportable Segments - Refer to Notes 2 and 12 to the financial statements

Critical Audit Matter Description

The Company’s evaluation of goodwill for impairment involves the comparison of the fair value of each reporting unit to its carrying value. The Company determines the fair value of its reporting units using the discounted cash flow model and the market approach. The determination of fair value using the discounted cash flow model requires management to make significant estimates and assumptions related to forecasts of future revenues, EBITDA margins, and the discount rate. The determination of fair value using the market approach requires management to make significant estimates and assumptions related to the selection of revenue and EBITDA multiples. Changes in these assumptions could have a significant impact on either the fair value, the amount of any goodwill impairment charge, or both. The goodwill balance was $4,331.2 million as of December 31, 2021 of which $2,283.6 million was attributable to a reporting unit within the Energy and Specialized Markets reportable segment and $475.4 million was attributable to the Financial Services reportable segment. 

Given the significant judgments made by management to estimate the fair value of the reporting unit within the Energy and Specialized Markets reportable segment and the Financial Services reportable segment, including management’s judgments in selecting significant assumptions to forecast future revenues, EBITDA margins, and the discount rate, as well as the selection of revenue and EBITDA multiples, performing audit procedures to evaluate the reasonableness of management’s estimates and assumptions for the reporting unit within the Energy and Specialized Markets reportable segment and the Financial Services reportable segment required a high degree of auditor judgment and an increased extent of effort, including the need to involve our fair value specialists.

How the Critical Audit Matter was addressed in the Audit

Our audit procedures related to forecasts of future revenue and EBITDA margin, selection of the discount rate used within the income approach and selection of the Revenue and EBITDA multiples used in the market approach for a reporting unit within the Energy and Specialized Markets reportable segment and the Financial Services reportable segment included the following, among others:

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