Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Price Target Raised to $74.00

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Brown & Brown’s price target from $72 to $74 while keeping a “market perform” rating, implying about 6.84% upside from the previous close.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed overall. Brown & Brown has a consensus “Hold” rating from MarketBeat analysts, with an average price target of $78.31, while some firms recently cut targets and others reiterated bullish views.
• The company posted solid quarterly results. Brown & Brown reported $1.39 EPS on revenue of $1.90 billion, both slightly ahead of expectations, and revenue rose 35.4% year over year.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $72.00 to $74.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "market perform" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price objective suggests a potential upside of 6.84% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued a "market outperform" rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Friday, June 26th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued a "market outperform" rating on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $78.31.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $69.26 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The business has a 50-day moving average of $59.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.78. Brown & Brown has a 1 year low of $53.81 and a 1 year high of $108.36.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 17.94%.The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. Brown & Brown's revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Brown & Brown will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Brown & Brown news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. bought 2,000 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 47,621 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,719,159.10. The trade was a 4.38% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 13.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRO. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 33,444 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,132,000 after buying an additional 9,264 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 5.2% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 11,149 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,387,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 1,824.7% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 53,103 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,888,000 after acquiring an additional 50,344 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 27.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 60.9% in the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 933 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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