Mizuho Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Stock

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) had its price target increased by investment analysts at Mizuho from $74.00 to $81.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Mizuho’s price target indicates a potential upside of 18.36% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on BRO. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citizens Jmp initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They set a “market outperform” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Brown & Brown from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $60.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.62.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

BRO opened at $68.44 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $23.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.01, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.60. Brown & Brown has a 1-year low of $53.81 and a 1-year high of $108.36. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64.

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

Insider Transactions at Brown & Brown

In related news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the purchase, the director directly 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 this link. Corporate insiders own 13.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Triad Investment Management bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,314,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new stake in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth $46,226,000. Vest Financial LLC increased its position in Brown & Brown by 3.7% in the fourth 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. raised its stake in 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 valued at $28,905,000 after purchasing an additional 57,971 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its stake in 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 valued at $32,941,000 after purchasing an additional 114,959 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.