Citigroup Initiates Coverage on Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO)

Key Points

• Citigroup has initiated coverage on Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) with a "buy" rating and a price target of $112.00, indicating an 18.16% potential upside from its previous close.
• Recent assessment changes from other analysts include lowered price targets from BMO, Wells Fargo, and Morgan Stanley, while Bank of America upgraded their rating and increased their target price.
• Increased insider buying activity was reported, with director Paul J. Krump acquiring 2,678 shares at an average price of $93.31, which highlights insider confidence in the company's prospects.

Stock analysts at Citigroup began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set a "buy" rating and a $112.00 price target on the financial services provider's stock. Citigroup's price target would suggest a potential upside of 18.16% from the stock's previous close.

BRO has been the topic of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $122.00 to $106.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $127.00 to $104.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Argus restated a "hold" rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $120.00 to $109.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $126.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $112.93.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of BRO stock opened at $94.79 on Wednesday. Brown & Brown has a 12 month low of $90.38 and a 12 month high of $125.68. The company has a quick ratio of 6.72, a current ratio of 6.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The business's 50 day moving average is $103.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.64. The company has a market cap of $31.26 billion, a PE ratio of 27.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.78.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 19.89%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Paul J. Krump bought 2,678 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $93.31 per share, for a total transaction of $249,884.18. Following the purchase, the director owned 5,353 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $499,488.43. This trade represents a 100.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada bought 1,000 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $91.44 per share, for a total transaction of $91,440.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $457,200. This represents a 25.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 15.59% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BRO. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter valued at $899,139,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 16.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,625,322 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,949,779,000 after buying an additional 5,124,203 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 626.6% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,350,039 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $239,751,000 after buying an additional 2,026,589 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the second quarter valued at about $171,163,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 13,974.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,112,758 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $138,427,000 after buying an additional 1,104,852 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 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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