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 research report sent to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $373.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $357.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $359.00 to $378.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $352.00 to $382.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Willis Towers Watson Public has a consensus 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.72. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $314.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $293.05. The company has a market cap of $31.64 billion, a PE ratio of -43.15, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.74. Willis Towers Watson Public has a fifty-two week low of $238.37 and a fifty-two week high of $334.99.

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

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTW. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the third quarter valued at $41,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 95.5% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 22.2% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the third quarter valued at $164,000. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.