Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Plans $0.82 Quarterly Dividend

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 15th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.815 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies has raised its dividend by an average of 15.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a dividend payout ratio of 31.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Marsh & McLennan Companies to earn $9.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.26 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.5%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE MMC opened at $212.51 on Thursday. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 52-week low of $188.31 and a 52-week high of $235.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The business has a fifty day moving average of $219.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $221.15. The stock has a market cap of $104.37 billion, a PE ratio of 26.17, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.96.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MMC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $220.00 price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $217.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $242.00 target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $228.60.

Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total value of $553,875.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 48,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,756,030.95. This trade represents a 4.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company Profile

Marsh & McLennan Cos., Inc is a professional services firm, which engages in offering clients advice and solutions in risk, strategy, and people. It operates through the Risk and Insurance Services, and Consulting segments. The Risk and Insurance Services segment is involved in risk management activities, as well as insurance and reinsurance broking and services.