Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.92

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 24th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.92 per share on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a 4.5% increase from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88.

Willis Towers Watson Public has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.2% per year over the last three years. Willis Towers Watson Public has a payout ratio of 19.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Willis Towers Watson Public to earn $19.50 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.9%.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of WTW stock opened at $337.16 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $328.33 and a 200-day moving average of $313.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $33.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -337.16, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 1-year low of $245.04 and a 1-year high of $344.14.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $8.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.01 by $0.12. Willis Towers Watson Public had a negative net margin of 0.99% and a positive return on equity of 20.02%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $7.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other news, insider Julie Jarecke Gebauer sold 3,384 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.77, for a total value of $1,136,245.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,986,996.09. This represents a 4.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Willis Towers Watson Public stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,368 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public were worth $429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 93.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $365.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $357.00 to $373.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $344.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $346.15.

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.