Short Interest in Aon plc (NYSE:AON) Grows By 7.5%

Aon plc (NYSE:AON) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,560,000 shares, an increase of 7.5% from the September 15th total of 4,240,000 shares. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 986,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.6 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AON

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AON by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,661,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,894,053,000 after buying an additional 64,500 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in AON by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 12,552,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,685,183,000 after purchasing an additional 309,702 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in AON by 1.2% in the second quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,405,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,293,449,000 after purchasing an additional 52,099 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of AON by 4.7% during the first quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 2,805,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $936,151,000 after purchasing an additional 127,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its holdings in shares of AON by 2.1% in the second quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 2,409,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $707,390,000 after buying an additional 49,161 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

AON Stock Performance

AON stock traded up $1.13 on Thursday, hitting $359.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 48,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,178,681. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $344.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $314.81. AON has a one year low of $268.06 and a one year high of $363.46. The firm has a market cap of $78.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.92.

AON (NYSE:AON) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.08 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. AON had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 252.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.76 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AON will post 15.22 earnings per share for the current year.

AON Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. AON’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on AON from $353.00 to $379.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on AON from $344.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America upped their target price on AON from $345.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of AON from $338.00 to $384.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of AON from $311.00 to $353.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $347.06.

About AON

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.