Aon plc Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.75 (NYSE:AON)

Aon plc (NYSE:AON) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be given a dividend of 0.745 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, February 13th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 2nd.

AON has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years. AON has a dividend payout ratio of 17.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect AON to earn $19.36 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.98 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.4%.

AON Price Performance

NYSE AON opened at $349.80 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $347.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $353.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.18 billion, a PE ratio of 28.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.84. AON has a 12 month low of $323.73 and a 12 month high of $412.97.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.75 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $4.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.38 billion. AON had a return on equity of 48.88% and a net margin of 15.96%.AON’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AON will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AON has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on AON from $449.00 to $448.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Citigroup raised AON from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $402.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley set a $400.00 target price on AON in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on AON from $410.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of AON from $400.00 to $390.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $408.47.

AON Company Profile

Aon plc is a global professional services firm that provides a broad suite of risk, retirement and health solutions to corporations, institutions and individuals. The company operates primarily as an insurance broker and risk adviser, helping clients identify, quantify and transfer risk across property, casualty, cyber and other areas. Aon also offers reinsurance brokerage and capital market solutions that connect insurers, reinsurers and corporate buyers.

In addition to traditional brokerage activities, Aon delivers consulting and outsourcing services in areas such as human capital, benefits, and retirement plan design and administration.