Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $326.33.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WTW shares. Raymond James raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $315.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $352.00 to $382.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $334.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the third quarter worth $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 95.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 22.2% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 15.3% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 445 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $309.04 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $313.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $291.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Willis Towers Watson Public has a twelve month low of $237.50 and a twelve month high of $334.99. The company has a market capitalization of $31.13 billion, a PE ratio of -42.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.74.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 18.57% and a negative net margin of 7.36%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.24 EPS. Research analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.75 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -48.35%.

About Willis Towers Watson Public

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company operates as an advisory, broking, and solutions company worldwide. It operates through two segments: Health, Wealth & Career and Risk & Broking. The company offers strategy and design consulting, plan management service and support, broking and administration services for health, wellbeing, and other group benefit program, including medical, dental, disability, life, voluntary benefits and other coverages; actuarial support, plan design, and administrative services for pension and retirement savings plans; retirement consulting services and solutions; and integrated solutions that consists of investment discretionary management, pension administration, core actuarial, and communication and change management assistance services.