AON (NYSE:AON) Receives Sector Perform Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their sector perform rating on shares of AON (NYSE:AON) in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $315.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

AON has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Bank of America cut shares of AON from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and lowered their price target for the company from $345.00 to $306.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of AON from $326.00 to $312.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of AON in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. They set a neutral rating and a $309.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $321.86.

AON Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of AON stock opened at $297.90 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $291.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $304.14. The firm has a market cap of $64.77 billion, a PE ratio of 23.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.91. AON has a 12-month low of $268.06 and a 12-month high of $347.37.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.86 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.14 billion. AON had a net margin of 19.04% and a negative return on equity of 1,083.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AON will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st were paid a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 30th. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. AON’s payout ratio is currently 21.16%.

Insider Transactions at AON

In related news, Director Lester B. Knight purchased 10,000 shares of AON stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $276.61 per share, for a total transaction of $2,766,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 139,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,448,790. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AON

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AON. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AON during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AON in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AON in the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of AON in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AON in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.