Royal Bank Of Canada Initiates Coverage on Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO)

Investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) in a research report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm set a “sector perform” rating and a $76.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price suggests a potential upside of 8.64% from the stock’s previous close.

BRO has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Brown & Brown from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $94.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, November 20th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.33.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

BRO stock traded up $0.77 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $69.96. The company had a trading volume of 116,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,293,586. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $73.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.38. Brown & Brown has a fifty-two week low of $65.68 and a fifty-two week high of $125.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. Brown & Brown’s revenue was up 35.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BRO. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 423.1% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.