Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) to Post Q3 2024 Earnings of $2.24 Per Share, William Blair Forecasts

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) – Research analysts at William Blair lowered their Q3 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, September 24th. William Blair analyst A. Klauber now expects that the financial services provider will earn $2.24 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $2.31. The consensus estimate for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s current full-year earnings is $10.14 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s FY2025 earnings at $11.25 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AJG. UBS Group lifted their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $260.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $273.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $300.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $241.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $301.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $282.93.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of AJG stock opened at $279.41 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $286.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $263.58. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 52 week low of $218.63 and a 52 week high of $301.04. The stock has a market cap of $61.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.56, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is 48.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total value of $2,482,959.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,654,772.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 6,335 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.06, for a total value of $1,799,520.10. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 30,053 shares in the company, valued at $8,536,855.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,710 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total value of $2,482,959.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,654,772.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 44,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,622,660. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 89.7% in the 2nd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

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.