BMO Capital Markets Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Stock

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $116.00 to $122.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Brown & Brown from $138.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on Brown & Brown from $119.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Brown & Brown from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Brown & Brown from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Edward Jones assumed coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $118.69.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

NYSE:BRO traded up $2.40 on Thursday, reaching $106.88. 8,472,112 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,612,338. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.12. The firm has a market cap of $30.63 billion, a PE ratio of 30.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.84. Brown & Brown has a 12 month low of $88.31 and a 12 month high of $125.68.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.01). Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Brown & Brown's payout ratio is currently 16.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the first quarter valued at approximately $899,139,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $313,412,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 626.6% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,350,039 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $239,751,000 after buying an additional 2,026,589 shares during the period. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $198,031,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,940,139 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,054,493,000 after buying an additional 1,335,964 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

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.