Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Increases Dividend to $0.82 Per Share

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 10th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.815 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. This is an increase from Marsh & McLennan Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71.

Marsh & McLennan Companies has increased its dividend payment by an average of 12.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a payout ratio of 30.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Marsh & McLennan Companies to earn $9.38 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.3%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Up 0.4 %

MMC traded up $0.95 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $212.75. 323,035 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,676,173. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 1-year low of $184.02 and a 1-year high of $216.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $208.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $202.41. The stock has a market cap of $104.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.88, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.94.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.09. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 34.14% and a net margin of 16.84%. The company had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.53 EPS. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In related news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.01, for a total transaction of $1,254,060.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 53,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,159,670.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.13, for a total value of $455,771.97. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,737,993.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.01, for a total transaction of $1,254,060.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 53,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,159,670.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MMC. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $223.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $236.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $197.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $211.47.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Company Profile

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc, a professional services company, provides advice and solutions to clients in the areas of risk, strategy, and people worldwide. It operates through Risk and Insurance Services, and Consulting segments. The Risk and Insurance Services segment offers risk management services, such as risk advice, risk transfer, and risk control and mitigation solutions, as well as insurance and reinsurance broking, strategic advisory services, and analytics solutions, and insurance program management services.