Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $121.30 and last traded at $121.02, with a volume of 1325066 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $118.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $128.00 price target on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.67.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $112.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.94. The company has a market cap of $34.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.34%.

Institutional Trading of Brown & Brown

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BRO. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 324.3% during the 4th quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 19,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,967,000 after buying an additional 14,740 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 161,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,104,000 after purchasing an additional 6,805 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Brown & Brown by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,356,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,394,000 after acquiring an additional 40,881 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 304,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,055,000 after purchasing an additional 50,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silphium Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Silphium Asset Management Ltd now owns 48,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,976,000 after purchasing an additional 10,530 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc is an insurance agency, wholesale brokerage, insurance program and service organization. It engages in the provision of insurance brokerage services and casualty insurance underwriting services. It operates through the following segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services.