William Blair Analysts Raise Earnings Estimates for Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) – Investment analysts at William Blair raised their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Brown & Brown in a report issued on Tuesday, September 24th. William Blair analyst A. Klauber now expects that the financial services provider will post earnings of $3.62 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $3.60. The consensus estimate for Brown & Brown’s current full-year earnings is $3.68 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Brown & Brown’s FY2025 earnings at $4.04 EPS.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 21.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $104.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.67.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

NYSE:BRO opened at $103.35 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.83. Brown & Brown has a twelve month low of $66.73 and a twelve month high of $106.02. The company has a fifty day moving average of $101.28 and a 200-day moving average of $92.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.0% in the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 3,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $117,000. Brightwater Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $238,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter valued at $12,607,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 60.6% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 27,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,444,000 after acquiring an additional 10,313 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In other news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $14,071,226.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total transaction of $250,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,872,802.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total value of $14,071,226.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 17.02% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is currently 16.00%.

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.