Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Downgraded by Morgan Stanley to “Underweight”

Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $55.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their prior price target of $60.00.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on BRO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $81.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Friday, June 26th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Citizens Jmp initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.19.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BRO opened at $69.48 on Monday. Brown & Brown has a fifty-two week low of $53.81 and a fifty-two week high of $108.36. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $23.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.60.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Brown & Brown will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.22%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. acquired 2,000 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 47,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. This trade represents a 4.38% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 13.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ICONIQ Capital LLC increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC now owns 2,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 17,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,675,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.1% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 6,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.7% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $890,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

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.