Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.70 (NYSE:AJG)

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.70 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, June 19th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a payout ratio of 20.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to earn $14.71 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 19.0%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 4.0%

Shares of AJG traded down $8.52 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $203.29. 812,056 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,254,646. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $195.00 and a 1-year high of $351.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $217.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $240.61. The company has a market cap of $52.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.68.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 11.84%.The business’s revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. Research analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 13.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 3,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.57, for a total transaction of $864,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,552,814.40. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $908,480.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 19,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,384,778.72. This represents a 17.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AJG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,390,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,123,534,000 after buying an additional 217,136 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 20,338,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,299,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,330,205 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,613,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,264,359,000 after purchasing an additional 830,252 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,953,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,834,682,000 after buying an additional 62,518 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $1,925,062,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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.