Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.88 (NASDAQ:WTW)

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 22nd, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.88 per share on Monday, July 15th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th.

Willis Towers Watson Public has increased its dividend by an average of 6.9% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 7 years. Willis Towers Watson Public has a dividend payout ratio of 19.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Willis Towers Watson Public to earn $18.26 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 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ WTW opened at $256.36 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $26.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 1.89. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 1 year low of $195.29 and a 1 year high of $278.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $262.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $255.83.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.21 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 10.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.84 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WTW. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 target price (up previously from $295.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $236.00 to $298.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $317.00 to $311.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Willis Towers Watson Public has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $296.14.

Insider Transactions at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.13, for a total value of $299,343.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,134,782.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.22% 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.