Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on BRO. Raymond James upped their target price on Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and upped their target price for the stock from $94.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $99.20.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

BRO stock opened at $101.87 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $94.53 and a 200-day moving average of $88.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.82. Brown & Brown has a 12 month low of $66.73 and a 12 month high of $103.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Brown & Brown will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,872,802.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Julie Turpin sold 3,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.92, for a total transaction of $301,232.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,121,842.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $250,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,872,802.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Brown & Brown

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 2.5% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 267,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,390,000 after purchasing an additional 6,613 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 12.7% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 276,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,169,000 after acquiring an additional 31,071 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the second quarter worth about $1,512,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 206.0% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 15,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 10,301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 55.4% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 358,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,519,000 after purchasing an additional 127,903 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

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.