Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $386.21.

Several research firms recently weighed in on AON. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of AON to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on AON from $379.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised AON from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $407.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th.

AON Price Performance

AON stock opened at $375.94 on Friday. AON has a 52 week low of $268.06 and a 52 week high of $412.97. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $391.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $373.59. The stock has a market cap of $81.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.89 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that AON will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AON

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in AON in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in AON by 2,025.0% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 85 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in AON in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in AON by 1,162.5% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AON in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Company 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.