Aon Corporation (AOC) will release its 2Q08 earnings results after the market closes on July 31, 2008. A conference call is scheduled for the next morning. First-quarter adjusted operating earnings from continuing operations came in at 71 cents per share, a nickel ahead of our estimate, supported by organic revenue growth as well as margin expansion.
We were pleased with the 1Q08 results, as the company was able to grow its top-line as well as the margins, despite unfavorable market conditions. Further, AOC continues to invest heavily in its core businesses, while exiting the non-core segments. The company recently sold Combined and Sterling as part of its strategy to exit its capital intensive insurance underwriting business.
While AOC continues to win new clients from its business rivals and derive significant cost savings from its restructuring programs, ongoing softening in the property-casualty market will limit any significant margin expansion. Ahead of the results, we are maintaining our FY08 and FY09 estimates and our hold rating on the shares.
At the current price level, the shares of AOC trade at 2.24x the 1Q08 book value of $20.44 per share, an 18.8% discount to 2.76x median of the peer group. On a price-to-book basis, the 18.8% discount looks somewhat reasonable, given an ROE 17.5% below the peer group median.
Our new six-month price target of $48.00 per share incorporates a slightly expanded multiple of 17.0x of our FY08 earnings estimate and 2.26x our estimated book value of $21.20 per share at December 31, 2008. Combined with the 60 cents per share annual dividend, this price target implies an expected return of 5.3% over the period.
Read the full analyst report on AOC
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