Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $386.21.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AON. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AON from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI raised AON from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $407.00 to $420.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on AON from $411.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Redburn Atlantic raised AON to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of AON from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd.

Institutional Trading of AON

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in shares of AON by 67.9% in the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 1,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AON during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $224,000. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of AON in the third quarter valued at $229,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its stake in AON by 101.2% during the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 1,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in AON by 1.3% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 38,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,224,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Price Performance

AON opened at $375.94 on Friday. AON has a 12-month low of $268.06 and a 12-month high of $412.97. The company has a market cap of $81.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $391.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $373.59.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.89 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that AON will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. AON’s dividend payout ratio is 21.33%.

About AON

Aon Plc engages in the provision of risk, health, and wealth solutions. It focuses on risk capital including claim management, reinsurance, risk analysis, management, retention, and transfer; and human capital involving analytics, health and benefits, investments, pensions and retirement, talent and rewards, and workplace wellbeing.