Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $119.24 and last traded at $118.59, with a volume of 96888 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $118.54.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BRO shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays boosted their target price on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.17.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

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 50 day moving average price of $107.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.33. The stock has a market cap of $34.22 billion, a PE ratio of 34.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.34%.

Institutional Trading of Brown & Brown

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Studio Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 22,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,375,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

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.