Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Sees Strong Trading Volume After Analyst Upgrade

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Thursday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $116.00 to $122.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Approximately 2,476,189 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 56% from the previous session’s volume of 1,586,285 shares.The stock last traded at $106.40 and had previously closed at $104.48.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on BRO. Edward Jones started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $126.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $138.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.69.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the first quarter valued at $1,929,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 395.6% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth about $580,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,356,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $138,394,000 after purchasing an additional 40,881 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 2.3%

The firm has a market cap of $30.63 billion, a PE ratio of 30.89, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $112.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $111.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.71%.

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.