Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $113.29 and last traded at $110.90, with a volume of 52088 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $107.60.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BRO. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America raised their target price on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.50.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 2.4 %

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $104.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.46. The company has a market capitalization of $31.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.73.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 22.65% and a return on equity of 17.12%. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,872,802.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Brown & Brown news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were 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. 16.43% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 330.4% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 298.5% during the 3rd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Brown & Brown during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 142.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Brown & Brown

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.