AON (AON) Scheduled to Post Earnings on Friday

AON (NYSE:AON) will post its quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Friday, April 26th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $5.82 per share for the quarter. Investors interested in participating in the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.07 by ($0.18). AON had a negative return on equity of 1,150.40% and a net margin of 19.17%. The company had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect AON to post $16 EPS for the current fiscal year and $17 EPS for the next fiscal year.

AON Stock Up 0.3 %

AON stock opened at $311.86 on Wednesday. AON has a 12 month low of $284.85 and a 12 month high of $347.37. The stock has a market cap of $61.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $317.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $314.53.

AON Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. This is an increase from AON’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. AON’s payout ratio is 19.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AON has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on AON from $342.00 to $325.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 5th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of AON from $333.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of AON from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on AON from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on AON from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $334.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $234,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,869 shares in the company, valued at $1,207,128. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other AON news, Director Lester B. Knight acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $301.97 per share, for a total transaction of $15,098,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 134,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,463,980. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Michael Neller sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total transaction of $234,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,207,128. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 74,532 shares of company stock worth $23,335,805 in the last ninety days. 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.