Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Brown & Brown, Inc. has received a "Hold" recommendation from thirteen analysts, with one rating it as a sell, six as hold, and six as buy.
• The average twelve-month price target for the stock is $118.92, with Wells Fargo setting a target of $127.00 after slightly raising it.
• Brown & Brown recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, representing an annual yield of 0.58%.

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $118.92.

BRO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $138.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $127.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Edward Jones began coverage on Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Barclays dropped their target price on Brown & Brown from $121.00 to $111.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Brown & Brown from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $126.00 to $119.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG bought a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth approximately $907,000. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 217,848 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $22,225,000 after buying an additional 50,837 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 433,844 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $44,074,000 after buying an additional 31,110 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 25,637 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,615,000 after buying an additional 4,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 11,183 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,141,000 after acquiring an additional 2,483 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE BRO traded down $0.83 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $102.55. The stock had a trading volume of 4,145,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,182,060. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $108.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $111.61. Brown & Brown has a 1 year low of $97.85 and a 1 year high of $125.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 2.52. The firm has a market cap of $29.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.82.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.77%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.71%.

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.