Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the nineteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fourteen have issued a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $98.6667.

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $91.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Brown & Brown from $84.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Brown & Brown from $120.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of BRO opened at $79.19 on Monday. Brown & Brown has a one year low of $76.17 and a one year high of $125.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $79.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The company has a market capitalization of $27.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th will be issued a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 4th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is currently 19.76%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 81.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,479,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,639,392,000 after buying an additional 7,827,992 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 16.8% during the second 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $433,740,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,416,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,445,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,821,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $171,163,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.