Cantor Fitzgerald Issues Optimistic Outlook for AJG Earnings

Key Points

• Cantor Fitzgerald has raised its FY2025 EPS estimate for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to $11.04, up from $10.80, and maintains a Strong-Buy rating on the stock.
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $2.33, missing the consensus estimate of $2.36, while its revenue for the quarter reached $3.18 billion, slightly below expectations.
• The financial services provider recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 0.9%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Free Report) - Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald raised their FY2025 EPS estimates for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, October 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst R. Tunis now anticipates that the financial services provider will post earnings of $11.04 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $10.80. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a "Strong-Buy" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s current full-year earnings is $11.54 per share. Cantor Fitzgerald also issued estimates for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s FY2026 earnings at $13.95 EPS.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.36 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 14.54%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on AJG. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $288.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $352.00 to $340.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $331.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

NYSE:AJG opened at $302.07 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $77.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.91 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $298.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $316.03. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1-year low of $275.56 and a 1-year high of $351.23.

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

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,096,542 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,954,625,000 after acquiring an additional 685,278 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,372,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,997,767,000 after purchasing an additional 4,815,007 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,743,493 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,439,207,000 after buying an additional 117,646 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the second quarter worth about $1,536,230,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 4.9% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,959,673 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,021,798,000 after acquiring an additional 137,354 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.54, for a total transaction of $2,396,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 100,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,186,742.58. The trade was a 7.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 12,855 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.60, for a total value of $3,825,648.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 85,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,569,792. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,916,928 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s dividend payout ratio is 36.93%.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.

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