AON (NYSE:AON) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

AON (NYSE:AON) announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The financial services provider reported $5.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.86 by ($0.20), Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. AON had a net margin of 19.17% and a negative return on equity of 1,150.40%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.17 EPS.

AON Price Performance

Shares of AON stock opened at $285.03 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $317.11 and a 200 day moving average of $314.06. The firm has a market cap of $56.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.86. AON has a 1 year low of $268.06 and a 1 year high of $347.37.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AON shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of AON from $306.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of AON in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $334.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AON news, Director Lester B. Knight purchased 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $301.97 per share, for a total transaction of $15,098,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 134,000 shares in the company, valued at $40,463,980. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Lester B. Knight acquired 50,000 shares of AON stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $301.97 per share, for a total transaction of $15,098,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 134,000 shares in the company, valued at $40,463,980. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Christa Davies sold 40,164 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.29, for a total transaction of $12,582,979.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 159,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,991,685.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 74,532 shares of company stock worth $23,335,805 in the last three months. 1.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About AON

Aon plc, a professional services firm, provides a range of risk and human capital solutions worldwide. It offers commercial risk solutions, including retail brokerage, specialty solutions, global risk consulting and captives management, and affinity programs; and health solutions, such as health and benefits brokerages, and health care exchanges.