Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Hold” consensus on Brown & Brown, with 14 hold, four buy, and one sell rating among 19 firms. The average 12-month price target is $76.80.
• Brown & Brown narrowly missed quarterly earnings estimates, reporting $1.07 in EPS versus $1.08 expected and $1.65 billion in revenue versus $1.71 billion expected, although revenue increased 30.4% year over year.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the stock, while the company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.165, equivalent to a 0.9% annual yield.

Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Hold" from the nineteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $76.80.

BRO has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (up from $56.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Brown & Brown from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BRO. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 38.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 33,444 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,132,000 after purchasing an additional 9,264 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 11,149 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,387,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Brown & Brown by 1,824.7% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 53,103 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,888,000 after purchasing an additional 50,344 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Brown & Brown by 27.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 60.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 933 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $72.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $24.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.59. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $69.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.81. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Brown & Brown has a 52-week low of $53.81 and a 52-week high of $97.49.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 17.75%.The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Brown & Brown will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th were issued a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 12th. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.82%.

About Brown & Brown

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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