Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Receives $347.06 Average PT from Brokerages

Aon plc (NYSE:AON) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $347.06.

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on AON from $344.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded AON from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $313.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of AON from $353.00 to $379.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of AON from $311.00 to $353.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of AON from $345.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AON

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in AON during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,575,000. FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,030,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $299,802,000 after buying an additional 273,141 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of AON during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Kampmann Melissa S. lifted its position in shares of AON by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Kampmann Melissa S. now owns 8,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,554,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in AON in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,050,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Stock Performance

AON stock opened at $358.05 on Friday. AON has a 52 week low of $268.06 and a 52 week high of $363.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92. The stock has a market cap of $77.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $345.94 and a 200-day moving average of $315.31.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. AON had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 252.81%. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.76 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that AON will post 15.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. AON’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.58%.

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.