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

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Hold" from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $116.85.

BRO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Brown & Brown from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $126.00 to $119.00 in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $119.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 534.1% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 279 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 122.7% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 294 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 581.8% in the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of BRO stock opened at $109.01 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $31.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.87. The company's 50 day moving average is $116.78 and its 200 day moving average is $110.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Brown & Brown has a 52-week low of $85.97 and a 52-week high of $125.68.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. Brown & Brown's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio 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.

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