Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) to Issue $0.88 Quarterly Dividend

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 11th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.88 per share on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%.

Willis Towers Watson Public has increased its dividend payment by an average of 6.9% per year over the last three years. Willis Towers Watson Public has a payout ratio of 19.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Willis Towers Watson Public to earn $18.28 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 19.3%.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $308.30. 205,036 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 505,268. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a 50 day moving average of $305.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $284.49. The stock has a market cap of $31.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -42.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.74. Willis Towers Watson Public has a fifty-two week low of $234.01 and a fifty-two week high of $334.99.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 18.57% and a negative net margin of 7.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.24 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $315.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $334.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. 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. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $321.80.

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.