Ryan Specialty (NYSE:RYAN) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Shares of Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) gapped down before the market opened on Friday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $68.60, but opened at $62.50. Ryan Specialty shares last traded at $66.02, with a volume of 362,389 shares traded.

The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.02). Ryan Specialty had a return on equity of 48.01% and a net margin of 9.14%. The firm had revenue of $663.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $658.80 million.

Ryan Specialty Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a $0.12 dividend. This is a positive change from Ryan Specialty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. Ryan Specialty’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on RYAN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Ryan Specialty from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Barclays upped their price target on Ryan Specialty from $76.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Ryan Specialty in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Ryan Specialty from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ryan Specialty from $64.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ryan Specialty news, Director Nicholas Dominic Cortezi sold 10,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.12, for a total value of $682,783.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $723,418.08. This trade represents a 48.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 316,451 shares of company stock worth $20,907,793. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ryan Specialty

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Ryan Specialty by 60.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,025,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,054,000 after acquiring an additional 385,366 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Ryan Specialty by 107.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 459,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,504,000 after buying an additional 238,064 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ryan Specialty in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,537,000. Bar Harbor Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Ryan Specialty by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 168,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,835,000 after buying an additional 9,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Ryan Specialty by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,641,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,994,000 after buying an additional 17,267 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.82% of the company’s stock.

Ryan Specialty Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $65.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.00, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.72.

About Ryan Specialty

Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc operates as a service provider of specialty products and solutions for insurance brokers, agents, and carriers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Singapore. It offers distribution, underwriting, product development, administration, and risk management services by acting as a wholesale broker and a managing underwriter.