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

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $312.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of 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 report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $292.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.