Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Short Interest Down 7.1% in July

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) saw a significant decrease in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,050,000 shares, a decrease of 7.1% from the June 30th total of 4,360,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,190,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO traded up $1.37 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $100.80. 1,042,675 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,269,766. The company has a market capitalization of $28.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.60, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.82. Brown & Brown has a 1 year low of $66.73 and a 1 year high of $100.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The company’s 50-day moving average is $91.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.09.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.05. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. Brown & Brown’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 16.00%.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In other news, EVP Julie Turpin sold 3,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.92, for a total value of $301,232.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,121,842.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 17.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,355,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,482,223,000 after buying an additional 203,105 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,804,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,144,893,000 after purchasing an additional 86,824 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,236,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $372,360,000 after purchasing an additional 29,514 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth approximately $217,663,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 76.2% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,000,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,236,000 after buying an additional 865,082 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BRO shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Brown & Brown from $104.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America raised Brown & Brown from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $91.00 to $101.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Brown & Brown from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.40.

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.