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

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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. Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $303.02 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $291.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $288.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $227.43 and a 1-year high of $316.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.79 and a beta of 0.76.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AJG shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $292.00 to $286.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. 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 note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $300.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.07.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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.