Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on BRO. Bank of America increased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.17.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 1.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Brown & Brown

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.5% in the third quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 0.5% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 22,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.