Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Edward Jones

Edward Jones assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $119.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Brown & Brown from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.50.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $118.89 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.83. Brown & Brown has a 52-week low of $80.33 and a 52-week high of $125.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.75.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 17.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,940,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,054,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,964 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,901,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,316,259,000 after purchasing an additional 94,121 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,099,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $620,737,000 after purchasing an additional 118,569 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,195,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $428,043,000 after buying an additional 566,116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Brown & Brown by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,803,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $388,045,000 after buying an additional 388,411 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

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.