Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (AJG) to Distribute Quarterly Dividend of $0.60 on December 20th

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 given a dividend of 0.60 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, December 20th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has increased its dividend payment by an average of 6.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a dividend payout ratio of 21.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to earn $11.34 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 21.2%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $287.35 on Friday. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 12 month low of $218.63 and a 12 month high of $301.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $289.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $268.76. The company has a market cap of $62.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.17, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.72.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 6,335 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.06, for a total transaction of $1,799,520.10. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 30,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,536,855.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 6,335 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.06, for a total transaction of $1,799,520.10. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 30,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,536,855.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, President Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.96, for a total transaction of $4,244,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 329,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,121,853.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 44,145 shares of company stock worth $12,622,660. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Barclays initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $287.00.

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.