Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Earns “Underweight” Rating from Morgan Stanley

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO)‘s stock had its “underweight” rating reissued by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $55.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their prior target price of $60.00. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential downside of 21.29% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America dropped their target price on Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued a “market outperform” rating for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.94.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

NYSE:BRO opened at $69.87 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.47, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $59.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.95. Brown & Brown has a fifty-two week low of $53.81 and a fifty-two week high of $108.75.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 17.94%.The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Brown & Brown will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $57.10 per share, with a total value of $114,200.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 47,621 shares in the company, valued at $2,719,159.10. The trade was a 4.38% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 13.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

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.