Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.82 (NYSE:MMC)

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 15th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.815 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies has raised its dividend payment by an average of 15.1% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a payout ratio of 31.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Marsh & McLennan Companies to earn $9.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.26 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.5%.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MMC opened at $212.51 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $219.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $221.15. The firm has a market cap of $104.37 billion, a PE ratio of 26.17, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Marsh & McLennan Companies has a 1-year low of $188.31 and a 1-year high of $235.50.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.71 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 16.82%. Marsh & McLennan Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Marsh & McLennan Companies will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.55, for a total transaction of $553,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 48,549 shares in the company, valued at $10,756,030.95. This represents a 4.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MMC. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $242.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $242.00 price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $228.60.

About Marsh & McLennan Companies

Marsh & McLennan Cos., Inc is a professional services firm, which engages in offering clients advice and solutions in risk, strategy, and people. It operates through the Risk and Insurance Services, and Consulting segments. The Risk and Insurance Services segment is involved in risk management activities, as well as insurance and reinsurance broking and services.