Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Receives $118.92 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $115.67.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $126.00 to $119.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Brown & Brown from $127.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays dropped their price target on Brown & Brown from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,929,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 104.4% in the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $847,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 395.6% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 34,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,489,000 after purchasing an additional 27,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 764,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,130,000 after purchasing an additional 18,677 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $93.09 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.70 billion, a PE ratio of 26.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 6.72. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.35. Brown & Brown has a one year low of $91.55 and a one year high of $125.68.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.29%.

About Brown & Brown

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.