Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the ten analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $87.30.

BRO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Bank of America cut Brown & Brown from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $80.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th.

Insider Transactions at Brown & Brown

In related news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 144,323 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.96, for a total transaction of $12,406,005.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 37,460,605 shares in the company, valued at $3,220,113,605.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 16.43% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 105,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,352,000 after buying an additional 3,649 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 18,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,767 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its position in Brown & Brown by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 40,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,851,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 10.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 37,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,593,000 after purchasing an additional 3,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 8.8% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 39,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,773,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 0.5 %

Brown & Brown stock opened at $84.81 on Friday. Brown & Brown has a twelve month low of $61.71 and a twelve month high of $87.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The firm has a market cap of $24.19 billion, a PE ratio of 26.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $84.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.95.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 21.09% and a return on equity of 16.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Brown & Brown will post 3.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.00%.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc markets and sells insurance products and services in the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services. The Retail segment provides property and casualty, employee benefits insurance products, personal insurance products, specialties insurance products, risk management strategies, loss control survey and analysis, consultancy, and claims processing services.