Bank of Nova Scotia Raises Holdings in Aon plc (NYSE:AON)

Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON - Free Report) by 200.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 81,878 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 54,593 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in AON were worth $29,407,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AON. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in AON in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AON by 2,025.0% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 85 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of AON during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AON by 1,162.5% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AON in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of AON from $372.00 to $384.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Redburn Atlantic upgraded AON to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Evercore ISI upgraded AON from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $407.00 to $420.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on AON from $396.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on AON from $394.00 to $409.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $393.87.

Remove Ads

AON Stock Performance

Shares of AON traded down $1.81 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $382.53. 167,486 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,228,366. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $390.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $375.00. Aon plc has a 12-month low of $268.06 and a 12-month high of $412.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.82.

AON (NYSE:AON - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.25 by $0.17. AON had a return on equity of 70.84% and a net margin of 16.91%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.89 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Aon plc will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AON Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a $0.745 dividend. This is an increase from AON's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. AON's dividend payout ratio is 21.33%.

AON Profile

Aon Plc engages in the provision of risk, health, and wealth solutions. It focuses on risk capital including claim management, reinsurance, risk analysis, management, retention, and transfer; and human capital involving analytics, health and benefits, investments, pensions and retirement, talent and rewards, and workplace wellbeing.