Fifth Third Bancorp Grows Stake in Aon plc $AON

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) by 7.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,761 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in AON were worth $8,416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Watch Advisors INC purchased a new position in AON in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of AON during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AON during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AON in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in AON during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AON news, General Counsel Darren Zeidel sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 15,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,527,440. This trade represents a 3.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on AON shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of AON from $412.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AON in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on AON from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on AON from $360.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on AON from $416.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $404.56.

AON Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:AON opened at $355.23 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $75.87 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s 50 day moving average is $330.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $330.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. Aon plc has a 52 week low of $304.59 and a 52 week high of $381.00.

AON (NYSE:AON) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $6.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.37 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. AON had a return on equity of 43.50% and a net margin of 22.54%.The business’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.67 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Aon plc will post 19.09 EPS for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. AON’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.00%.

About AON

Aon plc is a global professional services firm that provides a broad suite of risk, retirement and health solutions to corporations, institutions and individuals. The company operates primarily as an insurance broker and risk adviser, helping clients identify, quantify and transfer risk across property, casualty, cyber and other areas. Aon also offers reinsurance brokerage and capital market solutions that connect insurers, reinsurers and corporate buyers.

In addition to traditional brokerage activities, Aon delivers consulting and outsourcing services in areas such as human capital, benefits, and retirement plan design and administration.