Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $112.08.

BRO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Brown & Brown from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brown & Brown

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BRO. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 298.5% in the third quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Brown & Brown in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 130.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 3rd quarter valued at about $58,000. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 0.1 %

BRO stock opened at $103.70 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $29.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.73. The business’s 50-day moving average is $106.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.04. Brown & Brown has a fifty-two week low of $73.23 and a fifty-two week high of $114.15.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 22.65% and a return on equity of 17.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Brown & Brown will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This is a boost from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.35%.

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.