Citizens Jmp Increases Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Price Target to $78.00

Key Points

• Citizens JMP raised its price target on Brown & Brown to $78 from $70 and kept an “market outperform” rating, implying about 14.9% upside from the current price.
• The broader analyst view remains cautious: Brown & Brown has a consensus Hold rating, with a consensus price target of $79.06 after mixed target changes from other firms.
• The company recently beat quarterly earnings estimates, reporting $1.39 EPS versus $1.36 expected, while revenue rose 35.4% year over year to $1.90 billion.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by investment analysts at Citizens Jmp from $70.00 to $78.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "market outperform" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Citizens Jmp's target price would indicate a potential upside of 14.86% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $73.00 price target (up from $65.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.06.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 0.7%

Brown & Brown stock opened at $67.91 on Friday. Brown & Brown has a 52 week low of $53.81 and a 52 week high of $108.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.60.

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 (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Brown & Brown will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.