Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Expected to Announce Earnings of $1.68 Per Share

Wall Street brokerages predict that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG – Get Rating) will post $1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal quarter, Zacks reports. Five analysts have provided estimates for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s earnings, with the highest EPS estimate coming in at $1.73 and the lowest estimate coming in at $1.63. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. posted earnings of $1.17 per share in the same quarter last year, which indicates a positive year over year growth rate of 43.6%. The firm is expected to announce its next earnings report on Monday, January 1st.

On average, analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will report full year earnings of $7.78 per share for the current fiscal year, with EPS estimates ranging from $7.68 to $7.95. For the next year, analysts anticipate that the company will report earnings of $8.70 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $8.49 to $8.90. Zacks’ EPS calculations are an average based on a survey of research firms that that provide coverage for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co..

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.36. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 15.45%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AJG. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Thursday, January 27th. Raymond James raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $185.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, May 2nd. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Monday, April 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $192.00 price target for the company. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $191.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $173.00 to $171.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.30.

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded up $2.14 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $162.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,011,700. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $135.50 and a 1-year high of $187.02. The business has a fifty day moving average of $169.87 and a 200 day moving average of $164.62. The company has a market capitalization of $34.03 billion, a PE ratio of 35.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 3rd will be given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 44.93%.

In other news, General Counsel Walter D. Bay sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.00, for a total value of $1,215,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Thomas Joseph Gallagher sold 36,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.24, for a total transaction of $5,639,232.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 131,217 shares of company stock worth $20,447,149. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AJG. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Evoke Wealth LLC lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 394.7% in the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Jackson Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC now owns 33,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ahrens Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.18% of the company’s stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (Get Rating)

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance brokerage, consulting, third-party claims settlement, and administration services in the United States, Australia, Bermuda, Canada, the Caribbean, New Zealand, India, and the United Kingdom. It operates through Brokerage and Risk Management segments.

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