Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $333.64.

Several brokerages have commented on WTW. Evercore ISI upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $378.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays boosted 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 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $352.00 to $382.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $315.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.1% during the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.1% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 1,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.3% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,446,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 22.2% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of WTW opened at $322.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $32.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $315.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $297.76. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 1 year low of $242.54 and a 1 year high of $334.99. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.25. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 18.57% and a negative net margin of 7.36%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.24 EPS. Willis Towers Watson Public’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -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.