AON (NYSE:AON) Hits New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Aon plc (NYSE:AON) shares reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $309.13 and last traded at $309.6690, with a volume of 3883027 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $342.04.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AON shares. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $385.00 price objective on shares of AON in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Mizuho set a $398.00 price target on AON in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on AON from $393.00 to $412.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $395.00 target price on AON in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $400.00 price target on shares of AON in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $409.75.

AON Stock Down 9.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $346.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $353.09. The company has a market capitalization of $66.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.19, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.83.

AON (NYSE:AON) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.75 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $4.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.38 billion. AON had a return on equity of 45.23% and a net margin of 21.51%.AON’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aon plc will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AON Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.745 per share. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AON

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in AON by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,289,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,238,569,000 after purchasing an additional 511,292 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of AON by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,229,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,291,048,000 after buying an additional 105,154 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in AON by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,588,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,987,961,000 after buying an additional 173,722 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in AON by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,715,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,324,818,000 after acquiring an additional 207,690 shares during the period. Finally, Dodge & Cox bought a new stake in AON during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,235,437,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

About AON

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.