Watching some recent stock price activity for Aon plc (NYSE:AON), we have seen shares trading near the $192.76 level. Investors have a wide range of tools at their disposal when undertaking stock research. Investors will often monitor the current stock price in relation to its 52-week high and low levels. The 52-week high is currently $198.48, and the 52-week low is presently $137.44. When the current stock price is trading close to either the 52-week high or 52-week low, investors may pay increased attention to see if there will be a breakthrough that level. Taking a look at some previous stock price activity, we can see that shares have moved 32.61% since the beginning of the year. Pulling the focus closer to the last 4 weeks, shares have seen a change of 0.65%. Over the past 5 trading days, the stock has moved 0.86%.Over the past 12 weeks, the stock has seen a change of -1.22%.
Investors may be searching high and low for the next breakout winner in the stock market. As companies continue to release quarterly earnings reports, investors will be looking for stocks that have the potential to move to the upside in the coming months. Tracking earnings can be a good way for investors to see how the company is stacking up to analyst estimates. Some investors prefer to track sell-side estimates very closely. Others prefer to do their own research and make their own best guesses on what the actual numbers will be. A solid earnings beat may help ease investor worries if the stock has been underperforming recently. On the flip side, a bad earnings miss may cause investors to take a much closer look at what the future prospects look like for the company.
Investors might be paying attention to what Wall Street analysts think about shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON). Taking a peek at the current consensus broker rating, we can see that the ABR is 2.19. This average rating is provided by Zacks Research. This simplified numeric scale spans the range of one to five which translates brokerage firm Buy/Sell/Hold recommendations into an average broker rating. A low number in the 1-2 range typically indicates a Buy, 3 indicates a Hold and 4-5 represents a consensus Sell rating. In terms of the number of analysts that have the stock rated as a Buy or Strong Buy, we can see that the number is currently 7.
Shifting the focus to some earnings data, we have noted that the current quarter EPS consensus estimate for Aon plc (NYSE:AON) is 1.43. This EPS estimate consists of 8 Wall Street analysts taken into consideration by Zacks Research. For the previous reporting period, the company posted a quarterly EPS of 1.87. Sell-side analysts often provide their best researched estimates at what the company will report. These estimates hold a lot of weight on Wall Street and the investing community. Sometimes these analyst projections are spot on, and other times they are off. When a company reports actual earnings results, the surprise factor can cause a stock price to fluctuate. Investors will often pay added attention to a company that has beaten estimates by a large margin.
Looking at some analyst views on shares of Aon plc (NYSE:AON), we note that the consensus target price is resting at $198.42. This is the consensus target using estimates provided by the covering analysts polled. Sell-side analysts often produce target estimates for the companies that they track closely. Price target estimates can be calculated using various methods, and this may cause some analyst estimates to be drastically different than others. Many investors will track stock target prices, especially when analysts update the target price projections.
Investors have various approaches they can take when deciding what stocks to stuff the portfolio with. Some investors may choose to use fundamental analysis, and some may choose to use technical analysis. Others may employ a combination of the two approaches to make sure no stone is left unturned. Investors looking for bargains in the market may be on the lookout for the stock that offers the best value. This may involve finding stocks that have fallen out of favor with the overall investing community but still have low PE ratios and higher dividend yields. Whatever approach is used, investors may benefit greatly from making sure that all the homework is done, and all of the angles have been examined properly.
