Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts currently recommend a "Moderate Buy" for Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW), based on ratings from fourteen analysts, with an average price target of $369.42.
• The company has initiated a stock buyback plan authorizing the repurchase of $1.50 billion in shares, indicating strong leadership confidence in the stock's value.
• Willis Towers Watson reported earnings of $2.86 per share, exceeding expectations, and a revenue of $2.26 billion for the last quarter, with a year-over-year revenue decrease of 0.2%.

Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $369.4167.

WTW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $377.00 to $382.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $369.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $351.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $316.00 to $305.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 7th.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Down 0.7%

NASDAQ:WTW opened at $331.38 on Friday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $335.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $319.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. Willis Towers Watson Public has a fifty-two week low of $287.58 and a fifty-two week high of $352.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 226.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.73.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.21. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 21.60% and a net margin of 1.40%.The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.55 EPS. The firm's revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Willis Towers Watson Public's payout ratio is 252.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 35.6% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,208 shares of the company's stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 124.2% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,941 shares of the company's stock worth $1,670,000 after buying an additional 2,737 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 22.6% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,108 shares of the company's stock worth $4,768,000 after buying an additional 2,596 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,011 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,031,000 after buying an additional 815 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 33.9% in the first quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,196 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,108,000 after acquiring an additional 2,327 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company's stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Company Profile

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company operates as an advisory, broking, and solutions company worldwide. It operates through two segments: Health, Wealth & Career and Risk & Broking. The company offers strategy and design consulting, plan management service and support, broking and administration services for health, wellbeing, and other group benefit program, including medical, dental, disability, life, voluntary benefits and other coverages; actuarial support, plan design, and administrative services for pension and retirement savings plans; retirement consulting services and solutions; and integrated solutions that consists of investment discretionary management, pension administration, core actuarial, and communication and change management assistance services.

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