Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) Coverage Initiated at Mizuho

Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $386.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 16.70% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on WTW. UBS Group upped their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $395.00 to $398.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $387.00 to $356.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $373.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.23.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Up 1.2%

Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $330.77 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $324.69 and a 200-day moving average of $321.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Willis Towers Watson Public has a twelve month low of $292.97 and a twelve month high of $352.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.67 billion, a PE ratio of 15.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.63.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $3.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. Willis Towers Watson Public had a net margin of 21.58% and a return on equity of 21.46%. The firm’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 17.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 18th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WTW. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 76.4% in the second quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $733,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036 shares during the period. Capital Fund Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Willis Towers Watson Public during the second quarter worth about $9,570,000. Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 87.6% in the 2nd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 4,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,492,000 after buying an additional 2,272 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Willis Towers Watson Public by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,579,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,096,994,000 after buying an additional 62,570 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Shore Management Inc CT raised its position in shares of Willis Towers Watson Public by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc CT now owns 257,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,810,000 after buying an additional 26,420 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.