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

Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $397.27.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AON shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of AON from $394.00 to $409.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of AON from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $408.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of AON from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $384.00 to $378.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of AON from $420.00 to $398.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $445.00 target price on shares of AON in a report on Tuesday, March 25th.

AON Price Performance

Shares of AON traded up $8.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $365.11. 1,076,857 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,197,618. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $368.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $374.55. AON has a 52-week low of $275.07 and a 52-week high of $412.97. The company has a market cap of $78.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.84, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.89.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.04 by ($0.37). AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.83 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.66 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AON will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were paid a $0.745 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 1st. This is an increase from AON's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. AON's payout ratio is currently 25.38%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AON

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in AON by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,778,451 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,893,382,000 after purchasing an additional 258,699 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in AON by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,949,919 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,773,165,000 after purchasing an additional 627,742 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 18.3% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,034,062 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,210,864,000 after buying an additional 469,238 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 318.1% in the first quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 3,007,719 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,200,350,000 after buying an additional 2,288,397 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of AON by 2.6% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,390,571 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $954,053,000 after buying an additional 61,350 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.