Edward Jones Begins Coverage on Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO)

Analysts at Edward Jones assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm set a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

BRO has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Brown & Brown from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $128.00 price objective on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.50.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 1.4 %

Brown & Brown stock opened at $117.17 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.86, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.75. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $117.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.89. Brown & Brown has a twelve month low of $80.87 and a twelve month high of $125.68.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRO. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 324.3% in the fourth 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. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 395.6% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 34,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,489,000 after purchasing an additional 27,297 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 56.8% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 189,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,365,000 after purchasing an additional 68,745 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.1% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 40,881 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 valued at $31,055,000 after purchasing an additional 50,510 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

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.