Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $106.50.

Several research firms have issued reports on BRO. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $108.00 price target on the stock. Argus began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 0.4 %

BRO opened at $104.17 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $104.16 and its 200-day moving average is $95.73. Brown & Brown has a 52-week low of $69.13 and a 52-week high of $107.67. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.83.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 22.65% and a return on equity of 17.12%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. Analysts expect that Brown & Brown will post 3.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is currently 14.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Brown & Brown

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 330.4% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 298.5% in the 3rd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 142.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 65.7% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. 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.