Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (WTW Quick QuoteWTW - Free Report) is slated to report fourth-quarter 2024 earnings on Feb. 4, before market open. The insurer delivered an earnings surprise in each of the last four quarters, the average beat being 7.34%.

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Factors at Play

Revenues in the fourth quarter are likely to have benefited from strong performances across all the segments. The Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.05 billion indicates an increase of 4.6% from the year-ago reported quarter.

Strong client retention, new local appointments and the continued expansion of the Global Benefits Management client portfolio in International and Europe, along with increased brokerage income in North America, are likely to have aided the Organic revenue growth in Health in the to-be-reported quarter.

Wealth business revenues are likely to have benefited from higher levels of Retirement work in Europe and an increase in Investments business due to capital market improvements and growth from LifeSight solution.

Increased compensation survey sales and advisory services in Work & Rewards and product revenues in Employee Experience are expected to have favored Career revenues.

Higher project work in Outsourcing and higher commissions and fees from the Individual Marketplace are likely to have aided the Benefits Delivery & Outsourcing segment’s performance in the to-be-reported quarter.

Corporate Risk & Broking is expected to have benefited from higher levels of new business activity and strong client retention.

Expenses in the fourth quarter are likely to have increased, attributable to higher incentive costs and salary expense, losses on professional liability claims and higher non-income-related tax expense, increased consulting and compensation costs related to the Transformation program. We expect the metric to decrease 0.3% to $2.1 billion. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter earnings per share is pegged at $8.02, indicating an increase of 7.8% from the year-ago reported figure.

What the Zacks Model Unveils

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Willis Towers this time around. This is because a stock needs to have the right combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). This is not the case, as you can see below:

Earnings ESP: Willis Towers has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. This is because both the Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate are pegged at $8.02. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Willis Towers carries a Zacks Rank of 3 at present.

Stocks to Consider

Some insurance stocks with the right combination of elements to deliver an earnings beat this time around are:

American International Group, Inc. (AIG Quick QuoteAIG - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +2.65% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter 2024 earnings is pegged at $1.26, indicating a decline of 29.6% from the year-ago reported figure. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

AIG’s earnings beat estimates in three of the last four quarters while missed in one.

Assurant, Inc. (AIZ Quick QuoteAIZ - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +9.37% and a Zacks Rank of 2 at present. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter 2024 earnings is pegged at $3.96, indicating a decline of 13.5% from the year-ago reported figure. 

AIZ’s earnings beat estimates in each of the last four quarters.

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (PFG Quick QuotePFG - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +0.03% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter 2024 earnings is pegged at $1.95, indicating an increase of 6.5% from the year-ago reported figure. 

PFG’s earnings beat estimates in one of the last four quarters while missing in the other three.