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

Key Points

• Brown & Brown has a consensus “Hold” rating from 19 analysts: 14 holds, four buys and one sell. The average 12-month price target is $76.60, compared with the reported share price of $60.87.
• Institutional investors own approximately 71.01% of the company, with BlackRock, Capital World Investors and Principal Financial Group among the largest holders.
• The company’s latest quarterly results slightly missed expectations, reporting $1.07 in EPS versus $1.08 expected and $1.65 billion in revenue versus $1.71 billion expected, despite 30.4% year-over-year revenue growth. Brown & Brown also declared a $0.165 quarterly dividend, equal to a 1.1% yield.

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the nineteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fourteen have assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $76.60.

A number of equities analysts have commented on BRO shares. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $73.00 target price (up from $65.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Brown & Brown from $69.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $83.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th.

Institutional Trading of Brown & Brown

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,418,571,000. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,886,395 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,425,546,000 after buying an additional 407,006 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,608,720 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,017,847,000 after buying an additional 246,172 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Brown & Brown by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,952,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $631,495,000 after acquiring an additional 118,225 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter valued at $516,837,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.9%

Brown & Brown stock opened at $60.87 on Friday. Brown & Brown has a 1 year low of $53.81 and a 1 year high of $96.55. The firm's 50-day moving average is $69.33 and its 200-day moving average is $65.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.11. The company has a market cap of $20.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.20, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.58.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 13.17%. Brown & Brown's quarterly revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Brown & Brown will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.1650 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Brown & Brown's payout ratio is 20.82%.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc is an independent insurance brokerage and risk management company headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida. The company helps businesses, public entities and individuals identify, manage and transfer risk by providing insurance products and related advisory services.

Its offerings include property and casualty insurance, employee benefits, personal insurance, surety products, risk management services and specialty insurance programs. Brown & Brown also operates wholesale brokerage and managing general agency businesses, which provide specialized coverage and market access to retail insurance agents and brokers.

Founded in 1939 by J.

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.