Morgan Stanley Cuts Ryan Specialty (NYSE:RYAN) Price Target to $55.00

Ryan Specialty (NYSE:RYAN) had its price objective reduced by Morgan Stanley from $61.00 to $55.00 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Ryan Specialty from $63.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Ryan Specialty from $58.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on Ryan Specialty from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Ryan Specialty from $71.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Ryan Specialty from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ryan Specialty currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.47.

Ryan Specialty Price Performance

Ryan Specialty stock opened at $38.01 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.50, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.62. Ryan Specialty has a one year low of $37.29 and a one year high of $77.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.62, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $47.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.90.

Ryan Specialty (NYSE:RYAN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $751.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $777.43 million. Ryan Specialty had a net margin of 7.02% and a return on equity of 46.41%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ryan Specialty will post 2.29 EPS for the current year.

Ryan Specialty Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. This is an increase from Ryan Specialty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 24th. Ryan Specialty’s dividend payout ratio is presently 123.81%.

Insider Activity

In other Ryan Specialty news, CEO Timothy William Turner sold 129,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.61, for a total transaction of $6,946,247.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,553 shares in the company, valued at $672,966.33. This trade represents a 91.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Patrick G. Ryan, Jr. purchased 25,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $39.96 per share, for a total transaction of $1,018,980.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 428,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,114,668.20. This represents a 6.33% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 52.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ryan Specialty

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RYAN. Vulcan Value Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Ryan Specialty by 631.7% in the fourth quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 4,621,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,536,000 after buying an additional 3,989,502 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ryan Specialty by 79.9% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,552,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,910,000 after acquiring an additional 3,353,926 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Ryan Specialty during the third quarter valued at about $95,798,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in shares of Ryan Specialty by 1,510.0% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,610,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,124,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510,000 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Ryan Specialty by 76.9% in the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,066,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,332,773 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.82% of the company’s stock.

Ryan Specialty Company Profile

Ryan Specialty Group, Inc (NYSE: RYAN) is a global specialty insurance and reinsurance platform that partners with a network of insurers and reinsurers to deliver tailored risk solutions. The company focuses on complex and large-scale risks across multiple industry sectors, leveraging its underwriting expertise to structure coverage programs that meet clients’ unique needs.

Ryan Specialty’s core offerings span a diverse range of specialty lines, including casualty, property, professional liability, marine and energy, program administration, and sports and entertainment.