Company Reports

We will discontinue analyst coverage of Willis Towers Watson on or about Dec. 24. We provide analyst research and ratings on over 1,500 companies globally and periodically adjust our coverage according to investor interest and staffing.

Willis Towers Watson's overall growth in the quarter was roughly in line with what we saw from peers, but the company does appear to be outperforming on the insurance brokerage side. The company also continues to make good progress in cutting costs and improving margins. Overall, we are pleased with the quarter and see it as further confirmation the company has moved past the operational issues it has faced over the past few years. We will maintain our $262 fair value estimate for the narrow-moat company. We see shares as modestly overvalued, as we believe the market is overly focused on the tailwinds the company has been enjoying.

Towers Watson and Willis merged in 2016, creating a diversified brokerage and consulting firm with a mix similar to peers Aon and Marsh McLennan. While Willis Towers Watson is still significantly smaller than these industry leaders, the combined firms' record in pursuing this strategy suggested a favorable future, and results since the merger were fairly good. Over the long run, we think this combination sets up Willis Towers Watson to achieve moderate but stable growth and attractive profitability.

Willis Towers Watson largely maintained its recent path in the second quarter, which we view as a positive. While some metrics suggest growth may be starting to normalize, the company maintained fairly strong growth in the quarter overall, with year-over-year organic revenue growth of 6%, which is a bit above our long-term expectations. In addition, the company continues to see strong margin improvement. In our view, the company increasingly looks to be fully back on track. We will maintain our $253 fair value estimate for the narrow-moat company and see shares as about fairly valued at the moment.

While growth slowed a bit sequentially and was a little weaker than what we've seen from peers, we think Willis Towers Watson still turned in solid results for the first quarter. Overall revenue growth was 4% and 5% on a reported and organic basis, respectively. This was roughly in line with our long-term expectations, and we think recent results show that the business has stabilized following the attrition issues it experienced in the wake of the failed Aon merger. We will maintain our $253 per share fair value estimate for the narrow-moat company and see shares as about fairly valued right now.

In January 2016, Towers Watson and Willis merged, creating a diversified brokerage and consulting firm with a mix similar to peers Aon and Marsh McLennan. While the combination is still significantly smaller than these industry leaders, the firms' record in pursuing this strategy suggested a favorable future, and results since the merger were fairly good. Over the long run, we think this combination sets up Willis Towers Watson to achieve moderate but stable growth and attractive profitability.

We think Willis Towers Watson's fourth-quarter results provided some further confirmation that the narrow-moat company is on the right track. Revenue grew 7% year over year, or 6% on an organic basis, and the company continues to achieve solid margin expansion. We will maintain our $241 per share fair value estimate and see shares as being fairly valued at the moment.

Willis Towers Watson’s third-quarter results showed that growth continues to accelerate and is now almost on par with the company’s larger peers. Overall, the quarter provides some confidence that management’s efforts to stabilize and grow the narrow-moat business are bearing some fruit. We will maintain our $241 fair value estimate and see shares as modestly undervalued.

In January 2016, Towers Watson and Willis merged, creating a diversified brokerage and consulting firm with a mix similar to peers Aon and Marsh McLennan. While the combination is still significantly smaller than these industry leaders, the firms' record in pursuing this strategy suggested a favorable future, and results since the merger were fairly good. Over the long run, we think this combination sets up Willis Towers Watson to achieve moderate but stable growth and attractive profitability.

Willis Towers Watson continued to see solid growth in the second quarter, with overall revenue up 7% year over year on an organic basis. The company continues to enjoy some tailwinds on this front, and growth remains well above our long-term expectations. However, management pointed to some profitability issues going forward, and we think the market is focused on the downward revision in the company’s 2024 earnings per share target. We remain comfortable with our $236 fair value estimate for the narrow-moat company, which we will maintain.

We think Willis Towers Watson showed positive momentum in the first quarter. The company has been struggling with operational issues over the past year or two, but this quarter suggests it has closed the growth gap with peers, with overall year-over-year organic growth coming in at 8%. We will maintain our $236 fair value estimate for the narrow-moat company and see the shares as about fairly valued.

In January 2016, Towers Watson and Willis merged, creating a diversified brokerage and consulting firm with a mix similar to peers Aon and Marsh & McLennan. While it’s still significantly smaller than these industry leaders, the firms' record in pursuing this strategy suggested a favorable future, and results since the merger have been fairly good. Over the long run, we think this combination sets up Willis Towers Watson to achieve moderate but stable growth and attractive profitability.

Willis Towers Watson’s fourth-quarter results largely show the company maintaining the trends from the previous quarter. The company seems to be past the attrition issues it has faced following the failure of the Aon merger. We will maintain our $231 fair value estimate and narrow moat rating.

In January 2016, Towers Watson and Willis merged, creating a diversified brokerage and consulting firm with a mix similar to peers Aon and Marsh & McLennan. While it’s still significantly smaller than these industry leaders, the firms' record in pursuing this strategy suggested a favorable future, and results since the merger have been fairly good. Over the long run, we think this combination sets up Willis Towers Watson to achieve moderate but stable growth and attractive profitability.

Willis Towers Watson showed good momentum in the third quarter and seems to be seeing ongoing recovery from its recent operational issues. That said, underlying growth continues to lag peers a bit, and the company still has a ways to go. We will maintain our $219 fair value estimate and narrow moat rating.

While its performance continues to materially lag what we are seeing at peers, Willis Towers Watson's second quarter showed some signs that management is starting to get a grip on the company's issues. We will maintain our $219 fair value estimate and narrow-moat rating.

Willis Towers Watson continued to struggle in the first quarter in terms of growth, but its cost-reduction efforts appear to be bearing some fruit, and the company is attempting to recover from its recent attrition issues. Overall, nothing in the quarter materially altered our long-term view, and we will maintain our $219 fair value estimate and narrow moat rating.

In January 2016, Towers Watson and Willis merged, creating a diversified brokerage and consulting firm with a mix similar to peers Aon and Marsh & McLennan. While it’s still significantly smaller than these industry leaders, the firms' record in pursuing this strategy suggested a favorable future, and results since the merger have been fairly good. Over the long run, we think this combination sets up Willis Towers Watson to achieve moderate but stable growth and attractive profitability.

Willis Towers Watson continued to underperform its peers in the fourth quarter, as the company deals with headwinds in its brokerage business following the failed merger with Aon. While the company still needs to move through a difficult period, we think the narrow-moat franchise can stabilize its results over time, viewing the year-over-year organic growth the firm generated during the quarter as a reasonable result given current circumstances. We will maintain our $219 per share fair value estimate.

Willis Towers Watson continued to see relatively strong growth in the third quarter as it benefited from tailwinds across its segments. The narrow-moat company has benefited this year from higher insurance market pricing and the macroeconomic rebound, and these tailwinds have combined with easy comparisons to produce outsize growth. However, the company has achieved only modest organic growth historically, and this is our expectation over the long term. We will maintain our $219 fair value estimate.