Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $263.7059.

Several equities research analysts have commented on AJG shares. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Monday. UBS Group upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $283.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $280.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $275.00 to $278.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:AJG opened at $216.21 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market cap of $55.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.52. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $190.75 and a 52 week high of $327.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $210.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $227.22.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.67 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Richard C. Cary sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $618,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 47,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,850,714. This trade represents a 5.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 32.7% during the 1st quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 8,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,151 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $890,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the period. First Nebraska Trust Co bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,946,000. Carlson Capital L.P. bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $347,000. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 2,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co is a global insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Founded in 1927 by Arthur J. Gallagher, the company has grown from a regional broker into an international professional services organization that arranges insurance, provides consulting and designs risk-transfer solutions for commercial, industrial, public sector and individual clients.

The company’s core activities include property and casualty insurance brokerage, employee benefits consulting and administration, and a range of risk management services.