Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $116.85.

Several brokerages have commented on BRO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $119.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $126.00 to $119.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

BRO opened at $112.50 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $32.24 billion, a PE ratio of 32.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.15. Brown & Brown has a fifty-two week low of $85.97 and a fifty-two week high of $125.68.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 16.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BRO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,501,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,794,339,000 after buying an additional 560,980 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 0.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,940,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,609,742,000 after acquiring an additional 38,078 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new stake in Brown & Brown in the first quarter worth approximately $899,139,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Brown & Brown by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,099,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $620,737,000 after acquiring an additional 118,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,195,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $428,043,000 after purchasing an additional 566,116 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc is an insurance agency, wholesale brokerage, insurance program and service organization. It engages in the provision of insurance brokerage services and casualty insurance underwriting services. It operates through the following segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services.