Jefferies Financial Group Upgrades Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) to “Buy”

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $382.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $352.00.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on WTW. Raymond James upgraded Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $359.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group raised shares of Willis Towers Watson Public to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Willis Towers Watson Public from $315.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.33.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ:WTW opened at $317.57 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $308.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $287.68. The company has a market cap of $31.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.74. Willis Towers Watson Public has a 52-week low of $234.88 and a 52-week high of $334.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.72.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.24 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.75 EPS for the current year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio is presently -48.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 29.9% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 274 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the second quarter worth $54,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,728,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,123,000 after purchasing an additional 261,562 shares in the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public during the 2nd quarter valued at about $335,000. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 222.4% during the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 2,242 shares during the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Willis Towers Watson Public Company Profile

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.