11:12 AM EDT, 05/22/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Aon's (AON) operational risk is presently skewed to the downside as the company has recently underperformed the insurance broker group, BofA Securities said in a note Wednesday.

The brokerage attributed the underperformance to below-average organic growth, integration risk from the company's $13.4 billion acquisition of middle-market insurance broker NFP, and changes in its management.

"For much of the post-pandemic era, the insurance broker group has traded at an above-average premium vs the broad market," BofA analyst Grace Carter said in the note.

"However, in recent months, dovish [Federal Reserve] commentary, organic growth misses, and company-specific challenges at large-cap peer Aon have driven the group's valuation back towards long-term averages," according to the note.

BofA downgraded its rating on the Aon stock to underperform from neutral and reduced its price objective to $306 from $345.

Price: 287.64, Change: -2.34, Percent Change: -0.81