Gabelli Funds LLC Buys 2,215 Shares of Aon plc $AON

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC increased its holdings in Aon plc by 26.2% in Q1, resulting in ownership of 10,655 shares worth approximately $4.25 million.
• Aon reported earnings of $3.49 per share, surpassing estimates, and achieved a 10.5% increase in year-over-year revenue.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.745 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.8% with a payout ratio of 24.96%.

Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 26.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,655 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,215 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC's holdings in AON were worth $4,252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in AON during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in AON by 54.7% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Tsfg LLC purchased a new position in AON during the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in AON during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in AON in the first quarter worth approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AON shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on AON from $411.00 to $421.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $438.00 price objective (up previously from $436.00) on shares of AON in a report on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded 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. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded AON to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated a "cautious" rating on shares of AON in a report on Monday, August 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AON presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $412.69.

AON Stock Performance

AON stock traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $367.16. 774,627 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,250,791. The firm has a market cap of $79.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.75, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $361.09 and a 200 day moving average of $369.75. Aon plc has a 12 month low of $323.73 and a 12 month high of $412.97.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion during 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%.AON's revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $0.745 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. AON's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.96%.

AON Profile

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.