Lafayette Investments Inc. Grows Stake in Aon plc $AON

Lafayette Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in AON were worth $2,366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AON. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in AON by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,051,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $809,544,000 after purchasing an additional 6,038 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in shares of AON by 5.6% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 28,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,183,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of AON by 425.3% during the first quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $761,000 after buying an additional 1,544 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. lifted its position in AON by 64.4% during the 1st quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 7,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,986,000 after acquiring an additional 2,932 shares during the period. Finally, Peak Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AON during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,464,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AON Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AON opened at $344.30 on Tuesday. Aon plc has a 52 week low of $323.73 and a 52 week high of $412.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $362.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $360.75.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.09. AON had a return on equity of 50.91% and a net margin of 15.54%.The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.745 per share. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 3rd. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AON shares. TD Cowen decreased their target price on AON from $427.00 to $419.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of AON from $436.00 to $433.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of AON from $393.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley raised AON from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $385.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on AON in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $402.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $420.00.

AON Profile

Aon Plc engages in the provision of risk, health, and wealth solutions. It focuses on risk capital including claim management, reinsurance, risk analysis, management, retention, and transfer; and human capital involving analytics, health and benefits, investments, pensions and retirement, talent and rewards, and workplace wellbeing.