Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO – Get Rating) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, January 19th. They issued an outperform rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, December 14th. They issued a neutral rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $66.00 to $60.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 26th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $66.40.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

NYSE:BRO opened at $58.71 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.89. The firm has a market cap of $16.63 billion, a PE ratio of 26.57 and a beta of 0.74. Brown & Brown has a 1-year low of $52.91 and a 1-year high of $74.00.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $901.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $897.98 million. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 18.42% and a return on equity of 14.67%. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Brown & Brown will post 2.24 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 2nd. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.81%.

Institutional Trading of Brown & Brown

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. My Personal CFO LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Clear Street Markets LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 407.3% in the 2nd quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 82.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 2,485.0% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the period. 69.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Brown & Brown

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Brown & Brown, Inc markets and sells insurance products and services in the United States, Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the Cayman Islands. It operates through four segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services. The Retail segment offers property and casualty, employee benefits insurance products, personal insurance products, specialties insurance products, loss control survey and analysis, consultancy, and claims processing services.