Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.67.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BRO traded up $0.48 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $106.34. The company had a trading volume of 1,184,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,301,393. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $103.17 and its 200 day moving average is $94.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.33 billion, a PE ratio of 32.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.83. Brown & Brown has a twelve month low of $66.73 and a twelve month high of $107.67.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 21.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Brown & Brown will post 3.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $250,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at $8,872,802.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were 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 $8,872,802.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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. 17.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,355,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,482,223,000 after purchasing an additional 203,105 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,804,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,144,893,000 after buying an additional 86,824 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 24.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,489,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $311,979,000 after acquiring an additional 687,783 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 105.1% during the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,068,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $184,930,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,553,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,899,000 after acquiring an additional 114,688 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.