Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) Receives $362.92 Average PT from Brokerages

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

A number of research firms have issued reports on WTW. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price (up from $380.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $366.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $316.00 to $305.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 7th.

Institutional Trading of Willis Towers Watson Public

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WTW. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the 2nd quarter valued at about $458,662,000. Dodge & Cox purchased a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the second quarter worth about $391,837,000. Soundwatch Capital LLC bought a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the second quarter valued at approximately $272,790,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the first quarter valued at approximately $195,043,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 80.2% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,038,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,231,000 after buying an additional 462,249 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

WTW 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. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $331.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $318.62. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 52-week low of $286.35 and a 52-week high of $350.42. The stock has a market capitalization 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.

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

Willis Towers Watson Public declared that its board has approved a stock 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 buy up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

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

About Willis Towers Watson Public

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.