Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $114.10 and last traded at $114.06, with a volume of 109201 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $113.42.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays increased their price target on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Argus began coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 2nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.42.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $32.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.82.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.12% and a net margin of 22.65%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a $0.15 dividend. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is presently 16.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total transaction of $14,071,226.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 16.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Brown & Brown

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BRO. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the third quarter worth about $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in Brown & Brown by 298.5% during the third quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its position 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 worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Brown & Brown by 65.7% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.