Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nineteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $76.80.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BRO shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Friday, June 26th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 7,957.4% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 27,128,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,740,319,000 after buying an additional 26,792,212 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Brown & Brown in the second quarter worth about $1,418,571,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,886,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,425,546,000 after acquiring an additional 407,006 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,608,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,017,847,000 after acquiring an additional 246,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,403,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,068,284,000 after purchasing an additional 282,988 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of BRO stock opened at $71.42 on Tuesday. Brown & Brown has a 12-month low of $53.81 and a 12-month high of $96.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 2.11.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were given a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 12th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is 20.82%.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc (NYSE: BRO) is a professional insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm that provides a broad range of property and casualty, employee benefits, personal risk, and specialty insurance products. The company works with commercial, public sector and individual clients to design and place insurance programs, manage claims and loss control, and deliver risk management consulting. Its services also include wholesale brokerage, program administration and other specialty distribution solutions that connect carriers and intermediaries to niche markets.

Brown & Brown operates through a decentralized model of operating units and subsidiaries, enabling local client service with the scale to access national and specialty markets.