Short Interest in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Increases By 5.3%

Aon plc (NYSE:AON) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,400,000 shares, a growth of 5.3% from the August 15th total of 4,180,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AON. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of AON from $300.00 to $296.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of AON in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on AON from $311.00 to $353.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Barclays assumed coverage on AON in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $394.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on AON in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $309.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $337.27.

Institutional Trading of AON

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AON during the 4th quarter valued at $423,030,000. Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of AON by 196.7% in the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,875,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $550,521,000 after purchasing an additional 1,243,200 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Group LP purchased a new stake in AON during the 1st quarter worth about $258,471,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in AON by 37.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,000,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $587,445,000 after purchasing an additional 548,563 shares during the period. Finally, Stone Point Capital LLC purchased a new position in AON during the 2nd quarter valued at about $151,808,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Stock Performance

Shares of AON stock traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $349.31. 569,372 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,217,235. AON has a 52-week low of $268.06 and a 52-week high of $353.54. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $328.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $310.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.92.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.08 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.76 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that AON will post 15.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.16%.

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.