Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $106.50.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BRO. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 2nd. Truist Financial raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Argus started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of BRO opened at $109.37 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.27 billion, a PE ratio of 29.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s fifty day moving average is $105.63 and its 200 day moving average is $98.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.73. Brown & Brown has a fifty-two week low of $69.13 and a fifty-two week high of $114.08.

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

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.35%.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 16.43% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brown & Brown

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BRO. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 330.4% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 298.5% in the 3rd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 142.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. 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.