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

Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $109.46.

BRO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. Argus initiated coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,804,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,144,893,000 after purchasing an additional 86,824 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Brown & Brown by 0.7% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,915,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,638,000 after buying an additional 28,180 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 24.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,489,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $311,979,000 after buying an additional 687,783 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 17.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,466,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,537,000 after acquiring an additional 371,980 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 105.1% during the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,068,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $184,930,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059,711 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:BRO opened at $104.19 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $69.13 and a 1 year high of $114.15. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.39, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.84.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 22.65% and a return on equity of 17.12%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Brown & Brown will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This is an increase from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.35%.

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.