AON (NYSE:AON) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.20 EPS

AON (NYSE:AON) issued its earnings results on Friday. The financial services provider reported $5.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.86 by ($0.20), Briefing.com reports. AON had a negative return on equity of 1,150.40% and a net margin of 19.17%. The company had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

AON Stock Performance

NYSE:AON traded down $20.97 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $285.03. 4,566,608 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 882,672. The company has a fifty day moving average of $317.11 and a 200 day moving average of $314.06. AON has a 12 month low of $268.06 and a 12 month high of $347.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.34, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.86.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. AON’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on AON shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of AON in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of AON from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $334.69.

Insider Activity at AON

In related news, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total transaction of $234,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,207,128. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other AON news, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $234,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,207,128. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Lisa Stevens sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.26, for a total transaction of $4,098,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,175,613.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 74,532 shares of company stock worth $23,335,805 in the last three months. 1.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About AON

Aon plc, a professional services firm, provides a range of risk and human capital solutions worldwide. It offers commercial risk solutions, including retail brokerage, specialty solutions, global risk consulting and captives management, and affinity programs; and health solutions, such as health and benefits brokerages, and health care exchanges.