Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Downgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Brown & Brown from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Bank of America raised Brown & Brown from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and increased their price target for the company from $91.00 to $101.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $89.40.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.4 %

BRO opened at $90.04 on Thursday. Brown & Brown has a 52 week low of $66.73 and a 52 week high of $93.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.88. The firm has a market cap of $25.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.82.

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

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Julie Turpin sold 3,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.92, for a total transaction of $301,232.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,597 shares in the company, valued at $2,121,842.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 16.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,355,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,482,223,000 after acquiring an additional 203,105 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,718,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,113,347,000 after buying an additional 392,250 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Brown & Brown by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,236,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $372,360,000 after buying an additional 29,514 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $217,663,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 76.2% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,000,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,236,000 after acquiring an additional 865,082 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

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.