Verisk Replacing Joy Global in S&P 500 Index Next Week

Verisk Analytics Inc., the provider of data to insurers and banks, was named to join the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index after the company’s market value passed $12 billion on a share rally and expansion through acquisitions.

Verisk will replace Joy Global Inc. at the close of trading on Oct. 7, S&P said in a statement Wednesday.

Scott Stephenson, Verisk’s chief executive officer, has presided over a 21 percent surge in share price in the last 12 months. The Jersey City, New Jersey-based company has used takeovers since its 2009 initial public offering to push into new regions and expand beyond its insurance roots.

“Acquisitions remain a significant portion of the company’s historical and future growth profile,” Jeffrey Meuler and Nick Nikitas, analysts at Robert W. Baird & Co., said in a note in May. “Verisk has differentiated data assets, which we view as a source of a defensible competitive advantage.”

Joy Global, the world’s biggest manufacturer of underground mining equipment, has slumped more than 65 percent this year amid a global commodity downturn. Earlier this month, the firm cut its fiscal 2015 earnings and revenue forecasts.

Verisk rose 2.3 percent in New York to $73.91, compared with the IPO price of $22. Its market value exceeds that of more than 100 of the companies in the S&P 500.

The revision in the index may prompt money managers to shift holdings. More than $7 trillion is benchmarked to the gauge, according to the S&P website.

Verisk purchased Edinburgh-based Wood Mackenzie in May for 1.85 billion pounds ($2.8 billion), gaining a provider of information to the energy, chemicals and mining industries.

Other deals include the 2012 purchases of MediConnect Global Inc. and credit-card data provider Argus Information & Advisory Services LLC.

Stephenson sold more than $700 million in shares to help fund the Wood Mackenzie deal, and Verisk also issued stock in 2010.