Aon plc (NYSE:AON – Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 10th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 1st will be given a dividend of 0.56 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, February 15th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%.
AON has raised its dividend by an average of 8.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 11 years. AON has a payout ratio of 13.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect AON to earn $14.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.5%.
AON Trading Up 0.3 %
Shares of NYSE AON traded up $1.00 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $307.33. The stock had a trading volume of 557,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 608,688. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $299.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $287.47. The company has a market capitalization of $63.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.78, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.88. AON has a 1-year low of $246.21 and a 1-year high of $341.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.27.
AON (NYSE:AON – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.01. AON had a net margin of 22.49% and a return on equity of 445.81%. The company had revenue of $2.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. AON’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that AON will post 13.15 earnings per share for the current year.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AON shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of AON from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 31st. Bank of America started coverage on AON in a research report on Monday, September 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $294.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on AON from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 22nd. Raymond James lowered AON from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of AON in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AON currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $305.50.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AON. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in AON by 8.5% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 16,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,374,000 after buying an additional 1,284 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of AON during the third quarter valued at $645,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of AON by 4.8% during the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,840,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AON by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. 86.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About AON
Aon plc, a professional services firm, provides advice and solutions to clients focused on risk, retirement, and health worldwide. It offers commercial risk solutions, including retail brokerage, cyber, and global risk consulting solutions, as well as acts as a captives management; and health solutions, such as health and benefits brokerages, and health care exchanges.