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

Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $98.6667.

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Monday, November 3rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 81.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,479,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,639,392,000 after purchasing an additional 7,827,992 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Brown & Brown by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,625,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,949,779,000 after purchasing an additional 5,124,203 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter valued at about $433,740,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 13.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,416,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,445,888,000 after buying an additional 1,821,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners purchased a new position in Brown & Brown in the second quarter worth about $171,163,000. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

BRO opened at $80.12 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. Brown & Brown has a 52-week low of $76.17 and a 52-week high of $125.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.35 billion, a PE ratio of 23.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $79.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.32.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 18.23%.The firm’s revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 5th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This is a boost from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 5th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.76%.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc (NYSE: BRO) is a professional insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm that provides a broad range of property and casualty, employee benefits, personal risk, and specialty insurance products. The company works with commercial, public sector and individual clients to design and place insurance programs, manage claims and loss control, and deliver risk management consulting. Its services also include wholesale brokerage, program administration and other specialty distribution solutions that connect carriers and intermediaries to niche markets.

Brown & Brown operates through a decentralized model of operating units and subsidiaries, enabling local client service with the scale to access national and specialty markets.