Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) Receives $362.92 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $367.0909.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WTW shares. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $351.00 target price for the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $316.00 to $305.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $355.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $358.00 to $377.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of WTW stock opened at $347.14 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. Willis Towers Watson Public has a fifty-two week low of $286.35 and a fifty-two week high of $350.42. The firm has a market cap of $33.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 237.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.73. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $331.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $318.62.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 21.60% and a net margin of 1.40%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.55 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is presently 252.05%.

Willis Towers Watson Public announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.8% in the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $682,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 35.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 124.2% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,670,000 after purchasing an additional 2,737 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 22.6% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,768,000 after purchasing an additional 2,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public during the 1st quarter valued at about $406,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Company Profile

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company operates as an advisory, broking, and solutions company worldwide. It operates through two segments: Health, Wealth & Career and Risk & Broking. The company offers strategy and design consulting, plan management service and support, broking and administration services for health, wellbeing, and other group benefit program, including medical, dental, disability, life, voluntary benefits and other coverages; actuarial support, plan design, and administrative services for pension and retirement savings plans; retirement consulting services and solutions; and integrated solutions that consists of investment discretionary management, pension administration, core actuarial, and communication and change management assistance services.