Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.88

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 22nd, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be given a dividend of 0.88 per share on Monday, July 15th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th.

Willis Towers Watson Public has increased its dividend by an average of 6.9% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 7 years. Willis Towers Watson Public has a payout ratio of 19.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Willis Towers Watson Public to earn $18.26 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 19.3%.

Willis Towers Watson Public Price Performance

WTW stock opened at $256.36 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $262.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $255.83. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 12-month low of $195.29 and a 12-month high of $278.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $26.21 billion, a PE ratio of 25.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.75.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.21 by $0.08. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 10.88%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.84 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.28 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $320.00 to $318.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective (up previously from $295.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Bank of America upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $272.00 to $304.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $297.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $296.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other Willis Towers Watson Public news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.13, for a total transaction of $299,343.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,170 shares in the company, valued at $1,134,782.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.