Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Sets New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on the stock from $352.00 to $359.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Willis Towers Watson Public traded as high as $318.76 and last traded at $318.42, with a volume of 5220 shares. The stock had previously closed at $307.92.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on WTW. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $295.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays started coverage on Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $278.00 price objective on the stock. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $315.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $312.27.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTW. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 520.3% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 417,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,765,000 after buying an additional 350,135 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,728,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,123,000 after acquiring an additional 261,562 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 22.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,006,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,904,000 after acquiring an additional 185,126 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 456.5% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 198,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,006,000 after acquiring an additional 162,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 161.4% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 190,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,032,000 after purchasing an additional 117,372 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 1.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $31.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -42.30, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $292.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $273.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.72.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.24 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 16.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -48.35%.

Willis Towers Watson Public Company Profile

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.