Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Rating Increased to Hold at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

WTW has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an underweight rating and a $278.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $272.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $320.00 to $323.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $295.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $321.00 to $334.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $309.47.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WTW opened at $290.03 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $287.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $270.49. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 1 year low of $203.36 and a 1 year high of $303.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The company has a market capitalization of $29.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.74.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $2.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 16.97% and a net margin of 11.24%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.05 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WTW. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the first quarter valued at $28,000. American National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 136.5% during the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 175 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public in the second quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public in the first quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 93.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.