Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $102.6923.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BRO shares. Barclays cut their target price on Brown & Brown from $102.00 to $84.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Brown & Brown from $92.00 to $79.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Brown & Brown from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 17th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,330,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,501,264,000 after acquiring an additional 1,705,570 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 81.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,479,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,639,392,000 after purchasing an additional 7,827,992 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,416,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,445,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,821,229 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,120,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,230,602,000 after buying an additional 660,005 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 16.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,369,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $813,624,000 after buying an additional 1,050,350 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of BRO stock opened at $81.10 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $86.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 6.72 and a current ratio of 2.10. Brown & Brown has a 52-week low of $76.17 and a 52-week high of $125.68. The stock has a market cap of $27.69 billion, a PE ratio of 24.28, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.77.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.15. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 18.23% and a return on equity of 13.64%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 5th were given a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.76%.

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.