Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Price Target Lowered to $384.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) had its price target decreased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $388.00 to $384.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on WTW. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $330.00 to $320.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Evercore lifted their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $383.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $351.00 to $366.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $318.00 to $341.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $371.07.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

Shares of WTW opened at $285.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $297.75 and a 200-day moving average of $317.61. Willis Towers Watson Public has a one year low of $275.60 and a one year high of $352.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 2.21. The company has a market cap of $26.87 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.62.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $8.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.93 by $0.19. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 16.53% and a return on equity of 20.91%. The business had revenue of $2.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $8.13 EPS. Willis Towers Watson Public’s revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.96 dividend. This is an increase from Willis Towers Watson Public’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Willis Towers Watson Public’s payout ratio is presently 23.44%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 7.5% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 179,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,102,000 after purchasing an additional 12,575 shares during the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 25.4% in the third quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 23,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,277,000 after purchasing an additional 4,859 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.8% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 196,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,996,000 after purchasing an additional 3,454 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 3.0% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 679,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,738,000 after purchasing an additional 19,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 512.7% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 43,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,757,000 after purchasing an additional 36,738 shares during the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Willis Towers Watson Public Company Profile

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ: WTW) is a global advisory, broking and solutions company that helps organizations manage risk, optimize benefits and cultivate talent. The firm combines insurance brokerage and risk management capabilities with human capital and benefits consulting, actuarial and analytics services, and technology-enabled solutions. Willis Towers Watson serves a broad client base that includes multinational and mid-sized corporations, public sector organizations, insurers and investment managers.

The company’s core activities encompass commercial and reinsurance brokerage, risk transfer and risk-financing advice, and claims advocacy, alongside employee benefits and retirement consulting.