Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $113.17.

BRO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 2nd.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Brown & Brown stock opened at $104.65 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.93 billion, a PE ratio of 30.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.85. Brown & Brown has a 1-year low of $75.79 and a 1-year high of $114.15.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. As a group, analysts expect that Brown & Brown will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,901,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,316,259,000 after acquiring an additional 94,121 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,915,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,638,000 after acquiring an additional 28,180 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 17.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,466,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,537,000 after buying an additional 371,980 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,315,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $136,302,000 after buying an additional 17,934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 42.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,109,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $114,979,000 after purchasing an additional 330,661 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

About Brown & Brown

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.