Analysts Set Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Price Target at $106.50

Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $107.42.

A number of analysts have recently commented on BRO shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Brown & Brown from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 1.2 %

Brown & Brown stock opened at $112.05 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $105.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.73. Brown & Brown has a 1-year low of $69.13 and a 1-year high of $114.08. The stock has a market cap of $32.04 billion, a PE ratio of 30.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.82.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.12% and a net margin of 22.65%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Brown & Brown will post 3.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is currently 16.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In other news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total transaction of $14,071,226.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 17.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,512,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 251,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,855,000 after buying an additional 27,879 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Natixis grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 220.5% during the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 62,032 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,430,000 after buying an additional 42,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 162.3% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 488,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,675,000 after buying an additional 302,240 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

About Brown & Brown

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.