Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.10 EPS

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) released its earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10, Zacks reports. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.7 %

AJG stock traded up $4.96 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $299.06. 1,641,600 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,926,883. The company has a market capitalization of $74.70 billion, a PE ratio of 56.96 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $291.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $288.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $227.43 and a twelve month high of $316.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $315.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $292.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.07.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.