Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on the stock from $352.00 to $359.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Willis Towers Watson Public traded as high as $318.76 and last traded at $318.42, with a volume of 5220 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $307.92.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on WTW. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $272.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $315.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $295.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $278.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $312.27.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 11.2% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,862 shares of the company's stock worth $4,087,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.9% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,921 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,185,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the first quarter valued at approximately $514,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Csenge Advisory Group purchased a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the first quarter worth approximately $265,000. 93.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Willis Towers Watson Public Trading Up 3.0 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -42.30, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $292.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $273.95.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 18.57% and a negative net margin of 7.36%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.24 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Willis Towers Watson Public Limited will post 16.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. Willis Towers Watson Public's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -48.35%.

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.