Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Short Interest Update

Aon plc (NYSE:AON) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,020,000 shares, a growth of 20.0% from the July 15th total of 3,350,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,520,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AON shares. Bank of America lowered AON from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $345.00 to $306.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of AON in a research report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on AON from $353.00 to $379.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of AON from $312.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $311.00 price objective on shares of AON in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $330.21.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AON

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AON. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in AON in the 4th quarter worth about $157,650,000. SVB Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of AON by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 2,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $745,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in AON by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091 shares during the last quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. boosted its position in AON by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 2,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $739,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in AON by 194.8% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 49,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,329,000 after acquiring an additional 32,537 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Stock Performance

AON stock opened at $332.05 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $306.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $305.32. The stock has a market cap of $72.13 billion, a PE ratio of 26.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.91. AON has a 12-month low of $268.06 and a 12-month high of $344.68. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.08 by ($0.15). AON had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 252.81%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.76 earnings per share. AON’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that AON will post 15.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. AON’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.16%.

About AON

Aon plc, a professional services firm, provides a range of risk and human capital solutions worldwide. It offers commercial risk solutions, including retail brokerage, specialty solutions, global risk consulting and captives management, and affinity programs; and health solutions, such as health and benefits brokerages, and health care exchanges.