Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $382.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $352.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on WTW. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective (up previously from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $359.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Roth Mkm increased 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. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.33.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 2.1 %

WTW stock opened at $317.57 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day moving average of $308.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $288.15. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 52-week low of $234.88 and a 52-week high of $334.99. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.24 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.75 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is currently -48.35%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 128,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,780,000 after purchasing an additional 8,228 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 25.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,103,000 after purchasing an additional 4,988 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in Willis Towers Watson Public by 6.0% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 10,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,028,000 after buying an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the third quarter worth $630,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the third quarter worth $39,999,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.