Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Cut to Equal Weight at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $101.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their previous price target of $104.00.

BRO has been the topic of several other research reports. Edward Jones started coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $104.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 target price (down previously from $125.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $120.00 to $109.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.93.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of BRO stock opened at $95.35 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $103.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.38. The firm has a market cap of $31.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.48, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. Brown & Brown has a 1 year low of $90.38 and a 1 year high of $125.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 6.72 and a current ratio of 6.72.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 19.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.29%.

Insider Transactions at Brown & Brown

In related news, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $91.44 per share, with a total value of $91,440.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $457,200. This represents a 25.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Krump bought 2,678 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $93.31 per share, with a total value of $249,884.18. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 5,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $499,488.43. This represents a 100.11% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 17.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BRO. Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,929,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 104.4% in the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 18,677 shares during the period. Finally, FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth approximately $580,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

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.