Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (WTW) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.88 on July 15th

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 22nd, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be given a dividend of 0.88 per share on Monday, July 15th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th.

Willis Towers Watson Public has raised its dividend by an average of 6.9% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 7 years. Willis Towers Watson Public has a payout ratio of 19.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Willis Towers Watson Public to earn $18.26 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 19.3%.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Down 1.5 %

WTW stock opened at $252.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.33, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $262.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $255.81. Willis Towers Watson Public has a fifty-two week low of $195.29 and a fifty-two week high of $278.86.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.21 by $0.08. Willis Towers Watson Public had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 10.88%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.84 earnings per share. Willis Towers Watson Public’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Andrew Jay Krasner sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.13, for a total transaction of $299,343.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,134,782.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $236.00 to $298.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $320.00 to $318.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $248.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Bank of America raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $272.00 to $304.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $296.14.

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.