Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Aon plc experienced a significant decrease in short interest, dropping by 26.0% from July to August, with short interest now at 2,220,000 shares, representing 1.1% of total shares.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds control approximately 86.14% of Aon's stock, with notable recent acquisitions, including Financial Gravity Asset Management and Saudi Central Bank.
• Aon reported earnings of $3.49 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations by $0.09, and also has a current dividend yield of 0.8% based on a quarterly payout of $0.745 per share.

Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,220,000 shares, adropof26.0% from the July 31st total of 3,000,000 shares. Currently,1.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,350,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days. Based on an average daily volume of 1,350,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days. Currently,1.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AON. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AON during the first quarter worth $28,000. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in shares of AON during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of AON by 54.7% in the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in shares of AON in the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new stake in AON during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AON shares. Citigroup started coverage on AON in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $402.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded AON from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $408.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on AON from $393.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded AON to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $420.00 target price (up from $401.00) on shares of AON in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $412.69.

AON Stock Performance

AON traded down $0.85 during trading on Monday, hitting $369.69. 1,015,168 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,142,781. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.96, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.87. AON has a 1-year low of $323.73 and a 1-year high of $412.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $362.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $368.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.16 billion. AON had a return on equity of 50.91% and a net margin of 15.54%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AON will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $0.745 per share. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. AON's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.96%.

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.

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