AON (NYSE:AON) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.20 EPS

AON (NYSE:AON) announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The financial services provider reported $5.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.86 by ($0.20), Briefing.com reports. AON had a negative return on equity of 1,150.40% and a net margin of 19.17%. The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.17 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis.

AON Trading Down 6.9 %

AON stock traded down $20.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $285.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,566,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 882,672. The firm has a market cap of $56.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.86. AON has a twelve month low of $268.06 and a twelve month high of $347.37. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $317.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $314.14.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a $0.675 dividend. This is a positive change from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. AON’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AON shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on AON from $318.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of AON from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of AON in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $390.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research 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, AON has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $334.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lester B. Knight bought 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $301.97 per share, for a total transaction of $15,098,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 134,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,463,980. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Lester B. Knight purchased 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $301.97 per share, for a total transaction of $15,098,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 134,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,463,980. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Christa Davies sold 40,164 shares of AON stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.29, for a total transaction of $12,582,979.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 159,570 shares in the company, valued at $49,991,685.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 74,532 shares of company stock valued at $23,335,805. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

AON Company Profile

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.