Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Wednesday morning.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $108.00 price target for the company. Finally, Argus assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.67.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of BRO opened at $106.34 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.72, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.83. Brown & Brown has a 12 month low of $66.73 and a 12 month high of $107.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $103.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Brown & Brown will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total transaction of $250,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at $8,872,802.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total value of $14,071,226.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $250,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,872,802.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Heirloom Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Heirloom Wealth Management now owns 48,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,974,000 after purchasing an additional 2,438 shares during the period. Marshall Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.2% in the third quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 11,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 22.1% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 62.0% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 11,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after buying an additional 4,400 shares during the period. Finally, Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown during the third quarter worth approximately $205,000. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc markets and sells insurance products and services in the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services. The Retail segment provides property and casualty, employee benefits insurance products, personal insurance products, specialties insurance products, risk management strategies, loss control survey and analysis, consultancy, and claims processing services.