Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Willis Towers Watson Public has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 17 analysts, with an average 1-year target price of about $351.73.
• The company recently beat earnings expectations for the quarter, reporting EPS of $3.72 versus estimates of $3.65, while revenue came in at $2.41 billion and rose 8.5% year over year.
• Willis Towers Watson also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.96 per share, equal to a $3.84 annualized payout and a yield of about 1.5%.

Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $351.7333.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $409.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Truist Financial raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $384.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th.

Insider Activity at Willis Towers Watson Public

In related news, insider Lucy Clarke bought 1,896 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $263.37 per share, with a total value of $499,349.52. Following the transaction, the insider owned 22,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,982,976.29. This trade represents a 9.11% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,372,970 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,928,792,000 after acquiring an additional 103,784 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 90.7% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 6,925,525 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,275,728,000 after acquiring an additional 3,293,334 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,505,195 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,151,808,000 after acquiring an additional 664,202 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,212,870 shares of the company's stock valued at $727,149,000 after acquiring an additional 57,162 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the 4th quarter valued at about $511,151,000. 93.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $263.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.89 billion, a PE ratio of 15.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.43. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 12-month low of $240.61 and a 12-month high of $352.79. The company has a quick ratio of 2.92, a current ratio of 2.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $272.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $299.48.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported $3.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 16.84% and a return on equity of 21.52%. The company's revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.39%.

Willis Towers Watson Public Company Profile

Willis Towers Watson Public NASDAQ: WTW is a global advisory, broking and solutions company that helps organizations manage risk, optimize benefits and cultivate talent. The firm combines insurance brokerage and risk management capabilities with human capital and benefits consulting, actuarial and analytics services, and technology-enabled solutions. Willis Towers Watson serves a broad client base that includes multinational and mid-sized corporations, public sector organizations, insurers and investment managers.

The company's core activities encompass commercial and reinsurance brokerage, risk transfer and risk-financing advice, and claims advocacy, alongside employee benefits and retirement consulting.

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