Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited (NASDAQ:WTW) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,410,000 shares, an increase of 38.2% from the December 31st total of 1,020,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 670,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Willis Towers Watson Public from $380.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James raised Willis Towers Watson Public from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $365.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $315.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group raised Willis Towers Watson Public to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Willis Towers Watson Public from $278.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.64.

Willis Towers Watson Public Stock Performance

Willis Towers Watson Public stock opened at $324.54 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $316.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $298.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.69 billion, a PE ratio of -44.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.72. Willis Towers Watson Public has a one year low of $242.54 and a one year high of $334.99.

Willis Towers Watson Public (NASDAQ:WTW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. Willis Towers Watson Public had a positive return on equity of 18.57% and a negative net margin of 7.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.24 EPS. Willis Towers Watson Public’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Willis Towers Watson Public will post 16.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Willis Towers Watson Public Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Willis Towers Watson Public’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -48.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Willis Towers Watson Public

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,446,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 31.3% during the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 11,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,009,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Willis Towers Watson Public by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,016,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Willis Towers Watson Public during the 2nd quarter valued at $895,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Willis Towers Watson Public Company Profile

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.