Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Upgraded at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on BRO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Brown & Brown from $120.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.64.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE BRO opened at $72.05 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 2.10. Brown & Brown has a 12 month low of $71.48 and a 12 month high of $125.68. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $79.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.66.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.84% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 35.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th will be given a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 4th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.63%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BRO. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 81.1% in the third 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. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,625,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,949,779,000 after buying an additional 5,124,203 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $433,740,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $1,445,888,000 after acquiring an additional 1,821,229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter worth $171,163,000. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brown & Brown News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Brown & Brown this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Management outlined a 2026 margin target of 32%–37% and projected $30M–$40M of synergies from the Accession integration — this supports medium‑term profit improvement and cost rationalization. Accession margin/synergy article
• Positive Sentiment: Argus upgraded BRO to a “hold” (less negative stance), which can limit downside from purely bearish analyst sentiment. Argus upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 operating EPS of $0.93 beat consensus by $0.02 but revenue missed estimates — a mixed beat that reduces some concern on profitability while leaving growth questions. Q4 earnings transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America cut its price target to $90 and lowered its long‑term earnings outlook for BRO, explicitly flagging concerns after Q4 results — this is a prominent negative signal to institutional investors. BofA outlook/target cut
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple brokerages trimmed price targets (Morgan Stanley to $78, BMO to $81, Wells Fargo to $82, Jefferies and Mizuho to ~$84) and some moved to neutral/equal‑weight — the cluster of downgrades and PT cuts increases selling pressure and helped push BRO to a 12‑month low. Analyst PT cuts (Benzinga) BofA PT to $90 New 12-month low report
• Negative Sentiment: Pomerantz LLP opened an investor investigation into Brown & Brown — potential litigation and disclosure risks can increase uncertainty and weigh on the stock until resolved. Pomerantz investigation

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.