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Willis Towers Watson (Willis Towers Watson) WACC % :6.91% (As of Apr. 26, 2024)


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What is Willis Towers Watson WACC %?

As of today (2024-04-26), Willis Towers Watson's weighted average cost of capital is 6.91%%. Willis Towers Watson's ROIC % is 5.44% (calculated using TTM income statement data). Willis Towers Watson earns returns that do not match up to its cost of capital. It will destroy value as it grows.

For a comprehensive WACC calculation, please access the WACC Calculator.


Willis Towers Watson WACC % Historical Data

The historical data trend for Willis Towers Watson's WACC % can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

* Premium members only.

Willis Towers Watson WACC % Chart

Willis Towers Watson Annual Data
Trend Dec14 Dec15 Dec16 Dec17 Dec18 Dec19 Dec20 Dec21 Dec22 Dec23
WACC %
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 4.59 4.56 5.40 7.32 6.69

Willis Towers Watson Quarterly Data
Mar19 Jun19 Sep19 Dec19 Mar20 Jun20 Sep20 Dec20 Mar21 Jun21 Sep21 Dec21 Mar22 Jun22 Sep22 Dec22 Mar23 Jun23 Sep23 Dec23
WACC % Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 7.32 7.20 8.02 7.97 6.69

Competitive Comparison of Willis Towers Watson's WACC %

For the Insurance Brokers subindustry, Willis Towers Watson's WACC %, along with its competitors' market caps and WACC % data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.


Willis Towers Watson's WACC % Distribution in the Insurance Industry

For the Insurance industry and Financial Services sector, Willis Towers Watson's WACC % distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where Willis Towers Watson's WACC % falls into.



Willis Towers Watson WACC % Calculation

The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. The WACC is commonly referred to as the firm's cost of capital. Generally speaking, a company's assets are financed by debt and equity. WACC is the average of the costs of these sources of financing, each of which is weighted by its respective use in the given situation. By taking a weighted average, we can see how much interest the company has to pay for every dollar it finances.

WACC=E/(E + D)*Cost of Equity+D/(E + D)*Cost of Debt*(1 - Tax Rate)

1. Weights:
Generally speaking, a company's assets are financed by debt and equity. We need to calculate the weight of equity and the weight of debt.
The market value of equity (E) is also called "Market Cap". As of today, Willis Towers Watson's market capitalization (E) is $26260.611 Mil.
The market value of debt is typically difficult to calculate, therefore, GuruFocus uses book value of debt (D) to do the calculation. It is simplified by adding the latest one-year quarterly average Short-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation and Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation together. As of Dec. 2023, Willis Towers Watson's latest one-year quarterly average Book Value of Debt (D) is $5798.2 Mil.
a) weight of equity = E / (E + D) = 26260.611 / (26260.611 + 5798.2) = 0.8191
b) weight of debt = D / (E + D) = 5798.2 / (26260.611 + 5798.2) = 0.1809

2. Cost of Equity:
GuruFocus uses Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) to calculate the required rate of return. The formula is:
Cost of Equity = Risk-Free Rate of Return + Beta of Asset * (Expected Return of the Market - Risk-Free Rate of Return)
a) GuruFocus uses 10-Year Treasury Constant Maturity Rate as the risk-free rate. It is updated daily. The current risk-free rate is 4.033%. Please go to Economic Indicators page for more information. Please note that we use the 10-Year Treasury Constant Maturity Rate of the country/region where the company is headquartered. If the data for that country/region is not available, then we will use the 10-Year Treasury Constant Maturity Rate of the United States as default.
b) Beta is the sensitivity of the expected excess asset returns to the expected excess market returns. Willis Towers Watson's beta is 0.61.
c) (Expected Return of the Market - Risk-Free Rate of Return) is also called market premium. GuruFocus requires market premium to be 6%.
Cost of Equity = 4.033% + 0.61 * 6% = 7.693%

3. Cost of Debt:
GuruFocus uses latest TTM Interest Expense divided by the latest one-year quarterly average debt to get the simplified cost of debt.
As of Dec. 2023, Willis Towers Watson's interest expense (positive number) was $235 Mil. Its total Book Value of Debt (D) is $5798.2 Mil.
Cost of Debt = 235 / 5798.2 = 4.053%.

4. Multiply by one minus TTM Tax Rate:
GuruFocus uses the most recent TTM Tax Expense divided by the most recent TTM Pre-Tax Income to calculate the tax rate. The calculated TTM tax rate is limited to between 0% and 100%. If the calculated tax rate is higher than 100%, it is set to 100%. If the calculated tax rate is less than 0%, it is set to 0%.
The latest calculated TTM Tax Rate = 215 / 1279 = 16.81%.

Willis Towers Watson's Weighted Average Cost Of Capital (WACC) for Today is calculated as:

WACC=E / (E + D)*Cost of Equity+D / (E + D)*Cost of Debt*(1 - Tax Rate)
=0.8191*7.693%+0.1809*4.053%*(1 - 16.81%)
=6.91%

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.


Willis Towers Watson  (NAS:WTW) WACC % Explanation

Because it costs money to raise capital. A firm that generates higher ROIC % than it costs the company to raise the capital needed for that investment is earning excess returns. A firm that expects to continue generating positive excess returns on new investments in the future will see its value increase as growth increases, whereas a firm that earns returns that do not match up to its cost of capital will destroy value as it grows.

As of today, Willis Towers Watson's weighted average cost of capital is 6.91%%. Willis Towers Watson's ROIC % is 5.44% (calculated using TTM income statement data). Willis Towers Watson earns returns that do not match up to its cost of capital. It will destroy value as it grows.


Be Aware

1. GuruFocus uses book value of debt (D) to do the calculation. It is simplified by adding latest one-year quarterly average Short-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation and Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation together.
For companies that report quarterly, GuruFocus combines all of the most recent year's quarterly debt data from the beginning of the year to the year-end and calculates the average.
For companies that report semi-annually, GuruFocus combines all of the most recent year's semi-annual debt data from the start of the year to the year-end and calculates the average.
For companies that report annually, GuruFocus combines the beginning and ending annual debt data from the most recent year and then calculates the average.

2. The WACC formula discussed above does not include Preferred Stock. Please adjust if preferred stock is considered.

3. (Expected Return of the Market - Risk-Free Rate of Return) is also called market premium. GuruFocus requires market premium to be 6%.

4. GuruFocus uses the latest TTM Interest Expense divided by the latest one-year quarterly average debt to get the simplified cost of debt.


Related Terms

Willis Towers Watson (Willis Towers Watson) Business Description

Traded in Other Exchanges
Address
C/o Willis Group Ltd, 51 Lime Street, London, GBR, EC3M 7DQ
In January 2016, Towers Watson and Willis Group merged to form Willis Towers Watson, a global advisory, insurance brokerage, and solutions company. The company operates in two business segments: health, wealth, and career (its consulting operations) and risk and brokering (its brokerage operations). It has about 47,000 employees.
Executives
Pamela Thomson-hall officer: Head of International 51 LIME STREET, LONDON X0 EC3M 7DQ
Anne Pullum officer: Head of Strategy and CAO C/O WILLIS TOWERS WATSON, 200 LIBERTY ST, 7TH FLOOR, NEW YORK NY 10281
Julie Jarecke Gebauer officer: Head of Human Capital&Benefits JUPITER SATURN HOLDING CO, 875 THIRD AVENUE, NEW YORK NY 10022
Fredric J Tomczyk director TORONTO DOMINION CENTRE, PO BOX 1, TORONTO A6 M5K IA2
Stephen M. Chipman director 3101 DREXEL DRIVE, DALLAS TX 75205
Jacqueline Hunt director 53 SOUTH GREEN, MATTISHALL, NORFOLK X0 N220 3JY
Anne Donovan Bodnar officer: Head of Human Resources 901 N. GLEBE ROAD, ARLINGTON VA 22203
Gene H Wickes officer: Head of Exchange Solutions 901 N GLEBE ROAD, ARLINGTON VA 22203
Brendan R Oneill director C/O IMPERIAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES PLC, 20 MANCHESTER SQUARE, LONDON X0 W1U 3AN
Paul C Reilly director 880 CARILLON PARKWAY, ST. PETERSBURG FL 33716
Alexis Faber officer: Chief Operating Officer 3340 PLAYERS CLUB PARKWAY, SUITE 200, MEMPHIS TN 38125
Andrew Jay Krasner officer: Chief Financial Officer 1450 BRICKELL AVENUE, SUITE 1600, MIAMI FL 33131
Fumbi F. Chima director 44 THORNBURY CT., 36-38 CHEPSTOW VILLAS, LONDON X0 WII 2RE
Michelle R Swanback director 7001 EAST BELLEVIEW AVENUE, DENVER CO 80237
Inga K Beale director C/O CRAWFORD & COMPANY, 5335 TRIANGLE PARKWAY, PEACHTREE CORNERS GA 30092

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