Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

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

WTW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $359.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays lifted 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. UBS Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $365.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price (up from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:WTW opened at $313.24 on Friday. Willis Towers Watson Public has a one year low of $237.50 and a one year high of $334.99. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $312.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $291.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.03, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.72.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.24 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is currently -48.35%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 7.6% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 35,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,346,000 after buying an additional 2,519 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 445 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 504.9% during the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 80,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,167,000 after acquiring an additional 67,399 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.1% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 10,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,623,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the second quarter worth approximately $1,267,000. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.