Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Upgraded to “Outperform” at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) from an in-line rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. Evercore ISI currently has $373.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $357.00.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $352.00 to $382.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective (up previously from $365.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective 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. Finally, Raymond James raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $365.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $331.53.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 1.7 %

Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $314.15 on Wednesday. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 1-year low of $238.37 and a 1-year 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. The stock has a market cap of $31.64 billion, a PE ratio of -43.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $314.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $293.05.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.24 earnings per share. Willis Towers Watson Public’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is currently -48.35%.

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 the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 95,880.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,569,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,229,298,000 after purchasing an additional 7,561,114 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,629,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $772,027,000 after purchasing an additional 19,623 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,416,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $711,718,000 after purchasing an additional 48,384 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,002,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $589,698,000 after purchasing an additional 10,856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baupost Group LLC MA boosted its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,781,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,619,000 after purchasing an additional 128,558 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.