Aviva PLC Increases Position in Aon plc $AON

Aviva PLC increased its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 333,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,622 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in AON were worth $117,669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Dodge & Cox purchased a new stake in AON during the third quarter valued at about $1,235,437,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AON during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,155,981,000. Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new stake in AON during the third quarter valued at about $504,424,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in AON by 40,219.8% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 846,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $301,922,000 after buying an additional 844,615 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its position in AON by 41.6% during the third quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 2,096,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $747,565,000 after buying an additional 615,570 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on AON shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of AON from $406.00 to $396.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of AON in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of AON from $416.00 to $401.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of AON from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of AON from $381.00 to $372.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $396.81.

AON Price Performance

AON stock opened at $335.08 on Friday. Aon plc has a 1 year low of $304.59 and a 1 year high of $381.00. The company has a market cap of $71.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.39, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $322.41 and a 200 day moving average of $332.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $4.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.67 earnings per share. AON’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Aon plc will post 19.1 EPS for the current year.

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 1st were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. This is an increase from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. AON’s payout ratio is currently 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.