Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Hits New 1-Year High at $286.13

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $286.13 and last traded at $279.26, with a volume of 74711 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $283.02.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on WTW shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $318.00 to $321.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $272.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $320.00 to $323.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $272.00 to $304.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $300.21.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 0.4 %

The company has a market cap of $28.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.71, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average of $263.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $263.73.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.27. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 16.97% and a net margin of 11.24%. The business had revenue of $2.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 16.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is currently 35.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Choreo LLC acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the second quarter valued at approximately $449,000. Prudential PLC raised its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 81.1% during the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 15,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,144,000 after acquiring an additional 7,080 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 16.3% in the second quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 1,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 53.0% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 638,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,352,000 after purchasing an additional 221,108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.3% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 29,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,788,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Company Profile

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.