Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Reaches New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) shares reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday after BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on the stock from $122.00 to $106.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Brown & Brown traded as low as $91.63 and last traded at $93.57, with a volume of 1516188 shares. The stock had previously closed at $102.58.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on BRO. Barclays reduced their target price on Brown & Brown from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $126.00 to $119.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $127.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Brown & Brown from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Edward Jones initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.67.

Institutional Trading of Brown & Brown

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BRO. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 1st quarter worth about $899,139,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 626.6% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,350,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $239,751,000 after buying an additional 2,026,589 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 13,974.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,112,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,427,000 after buying an additional 1,104,852 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 172.5% in the first quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,314,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $163,516,000 after acquiring an additional 832,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 9,262.2% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 687,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $70,097,000 after acquiring an additional 679,756 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 1.3%

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.35. The company has a market capitalization of $30.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 6.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (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 return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 19.89%. Brown & Brown’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

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

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.