Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (AJG) To Go Ex-Dividend on December 6th

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 23rd,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.60 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, December 20th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has raised its dividend payment by an average of 6.9% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a dividend payout ratio of 21.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to earn $11.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.3%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.6 %

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock opened at $309.79 on Wednesday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $218.63 and a twelve month high of $316.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market cap of $67.97 billion, a PE ratio of 59.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $292.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $280.11.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 19.12%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AJG has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $313.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $309.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 7,000 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.68, for a total transaction of $1,992,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,625,146.84. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.00, for a total value of $803,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,211,438. This trade represents a 16.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,900 shares of company stock valued at $6,892,280. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to entities and individuals worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises.