Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Stock Price

Key Points

• Barclays cut its price target on Brown & Brown from $80 to $72 and kept an "equal weight" rating, signaling a modest ~6.8% upside from the current price.
• Overall analyst sentiment is cautious with a consensus Hold rating and an average price target of $85.27 after several firms (Jefferies, UBS, Morgan Stanley) trimmed their targets.
• Latest quarter showed a slight EPS beat ($0.93 vs. $0.91) but revenue missed ($1.61B vs. $1.65B); the stock trades near $67.42 and is about 71% owned by institutional investors.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by Barclays from $80.00 to $72.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Barclays's target price points to a potential upside of 6.79% from the company's current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, December 18th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $91.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $81.00 price objective (down from $90.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $85.27.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

BRO traded up $1.05 on Wednesday, hitting $67.42. 551,149 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,420,917. The company has a 50 day moving average of $69.00 and a 200-day moving average of $78.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.95 billion, a PE ratio of 21.05, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.83. Brown & Brown has a 12-month low of $63.29 and a 12-month high of $121.70.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 17.84%.The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 35.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,634,847 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,999,497,000 after purchasing an additional 303,955 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,886,395 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,425,546,000 after purchasing an additional 407,006 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 13.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,416,190 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,445,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,821,229 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,403,814 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,068,284,000 after purchasing an additional 282,988 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,952,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $631,495,000 after buying an additional 118,225 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company's stock.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc NYSE: BRO is a professional insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm that provides a broad range of property and casualty, employee benefits, personal risk, and specialty insurance products. The company works with commercial, public sector and individual clients to design and place insurance programs, manage claims and loss control, and deliver risk management consulting. Its services also include wholesale brokerage, program administration and other specialty distribution solutions that connect carriers and intermediaries to niche markets.

Brown & Brown operates through a decentralized model of operating units and subsidiaries, enabling local client service with the scale to access national and specialty markets.

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