Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

BRO has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $108.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Argus initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.50.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:BRO opened at $104.17 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $29.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 1.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $104.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.73. Brown & Brown has a 52-week low of $69.13 and a 52-week high of $107.67.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.12% and a net margin of 22.65%. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown will post 3.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $250,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,872,802.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total value of $14,071,226.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $250,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,872,802.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 17.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 5.2% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $892,000 after buying an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 25,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,243,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 4,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 71.2% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 6,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 2,584 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter valued at about $586,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.