Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Receives $396.81 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Aon plc (NYSE:AON) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $396.8125.

A number of research firms recently commented on AON. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on AON from $443.00 to $402.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on AON from $412.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of AON from $380.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of AON from $416.00 to $401.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of AON in a report on Monday, March 16th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 28.4% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 14,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,246,000 after purchasing an additional 3,253 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in AON by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 98,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,992,000 after purchasing an additional 8,216 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in AON by 35.2% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 292,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,249,000 after buying an additional 76,061 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in AON by 27.1% in the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $995,000 after buying an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 46.1% in the second quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 40,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,286,000 after buying an additional 12,631 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AON Price Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $337.09 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $322.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $332.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. AON has a 52-week low of $304.59 and a 52-week high of $381.00. The stock has a market cap of $71.99 billion, a PE ratio of 18.50, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.71.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its earnings results on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.37 by $0.11. AON had a net margin of 22.54% and a return on equity of 43.50%. The company had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.67 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that AON will post 19.1 EPS for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st were issued a $0.82 dividend. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.36%.

About AON

Aon plc is a global professional services firm that provides a broad suite of risk, retirement and health solutions to corporations, institutions and individuals. The company operates primarily as an insurance broker and risk adviser, helping clients identify, quantify and transfer risk across property, casualty, cyber and other areas. Aon also offers reinsurance brokerage and capital market solutions that connect insurers, reinsurers and corporate buyers.

In addition to traditional brokerage activities, Aon delivers consulting and outsourcing services in areas such as human capital, benefits, and retirement plan design and administration.