Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $326.33.

WTW has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $352.00 to $382.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $359.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective (up from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $334.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:WTW opened at $309.04 on Friday. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 52 week low of $237.50 and a 52 week high of $334.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $313.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $291.74. The firm has a market cap of $31.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -42.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.72.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 18.57% and a negative net margin of 7.36%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.24 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is currently -48.35%.

Institutional Trading of Willis Towers Watson Public

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the 4th quarter worth $993,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $777,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 95.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 174 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 187,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,156,000 after purchasing an additional 37,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 128,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,780,000 after buying an additional 8,228 shares in the last quarter. 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.