Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Now Covered by Analysts at Barclays

Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) in a research report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an equal weight rating and a $108.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on BRO. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Brown & Brown from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and upped their target price for the company from $94.00 to $112.00 in a report on Monday, August 12th. Citigroup raised their target price on Brown & Brown from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Brown & Brown from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $91.00 to $101.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $100.00.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:BRO opened at $103.94 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. Brown & Brown has a one year low of $66.73 and a one year high of $106.02. The company has a market cap of $29.65 billion, a PE ratio of 31.98, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $98.33 and a 200-day moving average of $90.58.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 21.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Brown & Brown will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 7th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In related news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $250,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at $8,872,802.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total transaction of $250,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,872,802.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total value of $14,071,226.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BRO. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.5% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 20,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 25,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.8% during the second quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 2,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Studio Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 2.1% in the second quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $574,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 5.6% in the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.