Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.82 Per Share

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 10th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a dividend of 0.815 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. This is a boost from Marsh & McLennan Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71.

Marsh & McLennan Companies has raised its dividend payment by an average of 12.2% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a payout ratio of 30.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Marsh & McLennan Companies to earn $9.38 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.3%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:MMC traded up $0.95 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $212.75. 323,035 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,676,173. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $208.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $202.41. The firm has a market cap of $104.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.94. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a one year low of $184.02 and a one year high of $216.89.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.38 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 16.84% and a return on equity of 34.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.53 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $210.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $197.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $211.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marsh & McLennan Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.01, for a total value of $1,254,060.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 53,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,159,670.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.01, for a total transaction of $1,254,060.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 53,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,159,670.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.13, for a total transaction of $455,771.97. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,737,993.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company Profile

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc, a professional services company, provides advice and solutions to clients in the areas of risk, strategy, and people worldwide. It operates through Risk and Insurance Services, and Consulting segments. The Risk and Insurance Services segment offers risk management services, such as risk advice, risk transfer, and risk control and mitigation solutions, as well as insurance and reinsurance broking, strategic advisory services, and analytics solutions, and insurance program management services.