The Goldman Sachs Group Downgrades Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) to Neutral

The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $119.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their prior target price of $126.00.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on BRO. UBS Group increased their target price on Brown & Brown from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on Brown & Brown from $119.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Brown & Brown from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Edward Jones assumed coverage on Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.85.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 2.1%

Brown & Brown stock opened at $110.49 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The company has a market capitalization of $31.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.93, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.87. Brown & Brown has a one year low of $85.97 and a one year high of $125.68. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $116.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.96.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.71%.

Institutional Trading of Brown & Brown

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 324.3% during the fourth quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 19,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,967,000 after purchasing an additional 14,740 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position 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 valued at $3,489,000 after purchasing an additional 27,297 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position 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 valued at $19,365,000 after purchasing an additional 68,745 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $138,394,000 after purchasing an additional 40,881 shares during the period. Finally, FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at $580,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.