Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Reaches New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. reached a new 12-month low after Barclays downgraded its price target from $111.00 to $108.00, with the stock last trading at $93.57.
• In addition to Barclays, several other analysts have also downgraded the stock or adjusted their price targets, resulting in a consensus rating of "Hold" and a target price of $118.67.
• Brown & Brown recently reported a quarterly revenue of $1.29 billion, beating analyst expectations, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share with a yield of 0.65%.

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on the stock from $104.00 to $87.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an underperform rating on the stock. Brown & Brown traded as low as $91.63 and last traded at $93.57, with a volume of 1516188 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $102.58.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on BRO. Bank of America upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $126.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays dropped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Brown & Brown from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $126.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Edward Jones initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $114.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at about $907,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 395.6% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 34,197 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,489,000 after purchasing an additional 27,297 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 18,596 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,897,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 40,297 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,111,000 after purchasing an additional 8,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 7,025 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $717,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 0.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 6.72 and a quick ratio of 2.52. The company has a market capitalization of $29.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.82. The business's 50-day moving average price is $107.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.35.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.28 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 19.89%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. Research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.29%.

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.