Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Price Target to $92.00

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) had its price objective trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $98.00 to $92.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Bank of America upgraded Brown & Brown from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $126.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Brown & Brown from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Brown & Brown from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.38.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of BRO stock opened at $79.81 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 6.72 and a current ratio of 2.10. Brown & Brown has a fifty-two week low of $79.30 and a fifty-two week high of $125.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $92.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.59. The company has a market capitalization of $27.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.79.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.15. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 18.23%.The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 5th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is presently 17.96%.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada bought 1,000 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $91.44 per share, with a total value of $91,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $457,200. This represents a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Krump purchased 2,678 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $93.31 per share, for a total transaction of $249,884.18. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 5,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $499,488.43. This trade represents a 100.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 17.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 104.4% in the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 30.6% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 760,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,360,000 after acquiring an additional 178,082 shares during the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.5% in the first quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 764,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,130,000 after acquiring an additional 18,677 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the first quarter worth $3,043,000. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 22.0% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 18,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,314,000 after acquiring an additional 3,351 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

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.