Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Price Target Cut to $80.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) had its price objective lowered by Barclays from $82.00 to $80.00 in a report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on BRO. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $81.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Brown & Brown from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.29.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $68.37 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.27 billion, a PE ratio of 21.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $73.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.07. Brown & Brown has a fifty-two week low of $65.68 and a fifty-two week high of $125.68.

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

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 4th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is presently 20.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors 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.