Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.68

Aon plc (NYSE:AON) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, April 12th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of 0.675 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This is a boost from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62.

AON has increased its dividend by an average of 10.6% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. AON has a dividend payout ratio of 15.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect AON to earn $17.38 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.70 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.5%.

AON Price Performance

NYSE:AON opened at $285.03 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $317.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $313.97. AON has a 1-year low of $268.06 and a 1-year high of $347.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.34, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.86.

AON (NYSE:AON) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $5.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.86 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. AON had a negative return on equity of 1,083.00% and a net margin of 19.04%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.17 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that AON will post 15.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on AON. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of AON from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 5th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of AON in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of AON from $342.00 to $325.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $334.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lester B. Knight purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $301.97 per share, for a total transaction of $15,098,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 134,000 shares in the company, valued at $40,463,980. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Lester B. Knight purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $301.97 per share, for a total transaction of $15,098,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 134,000 shares in the company, valued at $40,463,980. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Christa Davies sold 20,618 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.40, for a total transaction of $6,420,445.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 159,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,690,098. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 74,532 shares of company stock worth $23,335,805. Insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

About AON

Aon plc, a professional services firm, provides a range of risk and human capital solutions worldwide. It offers commercial risk solutions, including retail brokerage, specialty solutions, global risk consulting and captives management, and affinity programs; and health solutions, such as health and benefits brokerages, and health care exchanges.