Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

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

AON has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays cut their target price on AON from $430.00 to $415.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on AON from $420.00 to $398.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Redburn Atlantic raised AON to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Redburn Partners set a $445.00 price target on shares of AON in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of AON from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $408.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th.

Institutional Trading of AON

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC increased its position in AON by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 1,427 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $570,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AON by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 1,485 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $533,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in AON by 0.4% during the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,308 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,916,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AON by 54.7% in the first quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AON by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AON Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE AON opened at $350.42 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The company has a 50-day moving average of $360.62 and a 200 day moving average of $371.92. AON has a 12-month low of $285.35 and a 12-month high of $412.97. The stock has a market cap of $75.67 billion, a PE ratio of 29.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.86.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.04 by ($0.37). AON had a net margin of 15.58% and a return on equity of 52.71%. The company had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.66 earnings per share. AON's revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AON will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were paid a $0.745 dividend. This is an increase from AON's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. AON's payout ratio is 25.38%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.