Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Positive Forecast for Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Stock Price

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) had its target price upped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on BRO. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $120.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 17th. Citigroup cut Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Mizuho set a $89.00 price target on Brown & Brown and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.87.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

NYSE BRO opened at $80.29 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10. The company has a market cap of $27.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $79.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.00. Brown & Brown has a 1-year low of $76.17 and a 1-year high of $125.68.

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

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 298.5% in the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 423.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Motco acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 1,129.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 305 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 (NYSE: BRO) is a professional insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm that provides a broad range of property and casualty, employee benefits, personal risk, and specialty insurance products. The company works with commercial, public sector and individual clients to design and place insurance programs, manage claims and loss control, and deliver risk management consulting. Its services also include wholesale brokerage, program administration and other specialty distribution solutions that connect carriers and intermediaries to niche markets.

Brown & Brown operates through a decentralized model of operating units and subsidiaries, enabling local client service with the scale to access national and specialty markets.