Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Short Interest Up 16.3% in June

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,720,000 shares, an increase of 16.3% from the May 31st total of 3,200,000 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,200,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Brown & Brown from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Bank of America raised shares of Brown & Brown from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $91.00 to $101.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.40.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of BRO opened at $89.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $88.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The company has a market cap of $25.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.82. Brown & Brown has a 52-week low of $66.53 and a 52-week high of $93.75.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.07. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 21.09% and a return on equity of 16.43%. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Brown & Brown will post 3.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Brown & Brown news, EVP Julie Turpin sold 3,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.92, for a total value of $301,232.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,597 shares in the company, valued at $2,121,842.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 16.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. First PREMIER Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the first quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 166.5% in the fourth quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc markets and sells insurance products and services in the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services. The Retail segment provides property and casualty, employee benefits insurance products, personal insurance products, specialties insurance products, risk management strategies, loss control survey and analysis, consultancy, and claims processing services.