AON (NYSE:AON) Announces Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.20 EPS

AON (NYSE:AON) posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The financial services provider reported $5.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.86 by ($0.20), Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. AON had a negative return on equity of 1,150.40% and a net margin of 19.17%. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.17 earnings per share.

AON Trading Down 6.9 %

AON traded down $20.97 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $285.03. 4,566,608 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 882,672. AON has a 12-month low of $268.06 and a 12-month high of $347.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $317.11 and a 200 day moving average of $314.06. The firm has a market cap of $56.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.86.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This is an increase from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AON news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $301.97 per share, with a total value of $15,098,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 134,000 shares in the company, valued at $40,463,980. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other AON news, CFO Christa Davies sold 40,164 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.29, for a total value of $12,582,979.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 159,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,991,685.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lester B. Knight acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $301.97 per share, for a total transaction of $15,098,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 134,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,463,980. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 74,532 shares of company stock valued at $23,335,805 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of AON from $342.00 to $325.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of AON from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $334.69.

AON Company Profile

Aon plc, a professional services firm, provides a range of risk and human capital solutions worldwide. It offers commercial risk solutions, including retail brokerage, specialty solutions, global risk consulting and captives management, and affinity programs; and health solutions, such as health and benefits brokerages, and health care exchanges.