Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Price Target Raised to $387.00 at Evercore ISI

Key Points

• The price target for Willis Towers Watson Public has been raised from $373.00 to $387.00 by Evercore ISI, suggesting a potential upside of 12.07% based on the current stock price.
• The company announced a $1.50 billion share buyback plan, indicating a belief by management that the stock is undervalued.
• Willis Towers Watson reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.86, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.65, alongside revenues of $2.26 billion.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at Evercore ISI from $373.00 to $387.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Evercore ISI's price objective points to a potential upside of 12.07% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced 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 research report on Monday, July 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $366.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $351.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $358.00 to $377.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $365.25.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

Shares of WTW traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $345.33. The stock had a trading volume of 62,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 629,652. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $329.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $318.24. Willis Towers Watson Public has a fifty-two week low of $286.35 and a fifty-two week high of $346.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 236.66, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.71.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.23 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 1.40% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 18th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WTW. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the second quarter valued at about $458,662,000. Dodge & Cox purchased a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the second quarter valued at about $391,837,000. Soundwatch Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the second quarter valued at about $272,790,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the first quarter valued at about $195,043,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 80.2% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,038,275 shares of the company's stock worth $318,231,000 after buying an additional 462,249 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company's stock.

About Willis Towers Watson Public

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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