Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on BRO. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.50.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 1.2 %

Brown & Brown stock opened at $105.45 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.15 billion, a PE ratio of 28.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.82. Brown & Brown has a 12-month low of $69.13 and a 12-month high of $107.67.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 22.65% and a return on equity of 17.12%. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Brown & Brown will post 3.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. This is an increase from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is 16.35%.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In related news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total value of $14,071,226.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Brown & Brown news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $250,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at $8,872,802.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total transaction of $14,071,226.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 20,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 2,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 29,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,097,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 22,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 25,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

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.