AON (NYSE:AON) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.17 EPS

AON (NYSE:AON) posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.25 by $0.17, RTT News reports. AON had a return on equity of 107.43% and a net margin of 16.32%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.89 earnings per share.

AON Stock Down 0.1 %

AON stock traded down $0.50 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $371.65. 695,488 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,077,542. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66. AON has a 12-month low of $268.06 and a 12-month high of $395.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $366.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $353.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.93.

AON Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AON has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price target on AON from $345.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on AON from $325.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays upped their price target on AON from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded AON from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $377.00 to $410.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on AON from $413.00 to $432.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $370.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Lisa Stevens sold 1,275 shares of AON stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.68, for a total value of $494,292.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,131,291.36. This trade represents a 13.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Mindy F. Simon sold 650 shares of AON stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.34, for a total value of $256,321.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 1,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,121.44. The trade was a 26.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About AON

Aon Plc engages in the provision of risk, health, and wealth solutions. It focuses on risk capital including claim management, reinsurance, risk analysis, management, retention, and transfer; and human capital involving analytics, health and benefits, investments, pensions and retirement, talent and rewards, and workplace wellbeing.