Mizuho Issues Positive Forecast for Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Stock Price

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) had its price objective hoisted by Mizuho from $74.00 to $81.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Friday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Brown & Brown from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citizens Jmp started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.56.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of BRO stock opened at $67.91 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.60. Brown & Brown has a 12-month low of $53.81 and a 12-month high of $108.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $59.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.60.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 17.94%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Brown & Brown will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is presently 21.22%.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In other news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. acquired 2,000 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $57.10 per share, with a total value of $114,200.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 47,621 shares in the company, valued at $2,719,159.10. This trade represents a 4.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 13.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Brown & Brown

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BRO. Triad Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,314,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at $46,226,000. Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 552,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,074,000 after purchasing an additional 19,503 shares during the last quarter. Barr E S & Co. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Barr E S & Co. now owns 362,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,905,000 after purchasing an additional 57,971 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 38.5% during the fourth quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 413,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,941,000 after purchasing an additional 114,959 shares in the last quarter. 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.