Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Price Target Cut to $80.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Key Points

• Barclays cut its price target on Brown & Brown from $82 to $80 and kept an "equal weight" rating, implying about 16.44% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is largely cautious—four Buys and fourteen Holds—giving an average price target of $90.29 and an overall "Hold" consensus.
• BRO is trading near $68.70 (below its 50- and 200-day moving averages) and recently reported an EPS beat ($0.93 vs. $0.91) with revenue up 35.7% year‑over‑year.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) had its price objective reduced by investment analysts at Barclays from $82.00 to $80.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Barclays's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 16.44% from the stock's previous close.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $78.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Mizuho raised Brown & Brown from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $84.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Argus raised shares of Brown & Brown to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $78.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $90.29.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

BRO stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $68.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,392,979 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,394,414. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $74.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Brown & Brown has a 1 year low of $65.68 and a 1 year high of $125.68. The stock has a market cap of $23.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.43, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.79.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.84% and a return on equity of 12.93%. Brown & Brown's revenue was up 35.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 610,737 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,744,000 after purchasing an additional 21,643 shares during the period. AG Campbell Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at $1,732,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 352.8% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 3,690 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 2,875 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth about $448,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in Brown & Brown by 55.2% in the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 9,232 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $736,000 after acquiring an additional 3,284 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

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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