Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Short Interest Update

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,720,000 shares, a growth of 16.3% from the May 31st total of 3,200,000 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,200,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Brown & Brown presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.40.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

BRO stock opened at $89.41 on Monday. Brown & Brown has a 1 year low of $66.53 and a 1 year high of $93.75. The company has a market cap of $25.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.51, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $88.01 and a 200 day moving average of $82.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.07. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 21.09% and a return on equity of 16.43%. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 16.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In other news, EVP Julie Turpin sold 3,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.92, for a total value of $301,232.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,121,842.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 17.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SRN Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.9% during the first quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 11,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after buying an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 12.4% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 251,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,855,000 after purchasing an additional 27,879 shares during the last quarter. Invst LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the first quarter worth approximately $861,000. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 19.0% in the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 23,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,075,000 after purchasing an additional 3,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the first quarter worth approximately $672,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

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.