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

Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eighteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $90.6429.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Argus raised Brown & Brown to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $94.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 target price (down previously from $90.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, January 29th.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 3.6%

BRO stock opened at $69.44 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $77.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.79. Brown & Brown has a fifty-two week low of $65.68 and a fifty-two week high of $125.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 1.67.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.84% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 35.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 4th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.63%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BRO. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 38.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 33,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,132,000 after acquiring an additional 9,264 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 11,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,387,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 3,630 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 63.7% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 14,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,591,000 after buying an additional 5,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $248,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

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.