Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) to Issue $0.88 Quarterly Dividend

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 given a dividend of 0.88 per share on Monday, July 15th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date 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 annually for the last 7 consecutive 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 Performance

NASDAQ:WTW opened at $256.36 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $262.68 and a 200-day moving average of $255.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Willis Towers Watson Public has a twelve month low of $195.29 and a twelve month high of $278.86.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $317.00 to $311.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $236.00 to $298.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $236.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 price target (up previously from $295.00) on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased 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 research report on Friday, April 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $296.14.

Insider Transactions at Willis Towers Watson Public

In other news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,100 shares of Willis Towers Watson Public stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,134,782.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.