Brown & Brown (BRO) Competitors

Erie Indemnity (NASDAQ:ERIE) and Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, media sentiment, profitability, risk and valuation.

Is ERIE or BRO a better dividend stock?

Erie Indemnity pays an annual dividend of $5.46 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Brown & Brown pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Erie Indemnity pays out 45.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Brown & Brown pays out 17.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Erie Indemnity has raised its dividend for 36 consecutive years. Erie Indemnity is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has better earnings and valuation, ERIE or BRO?

Brown & Brown has higher revenue and earnings than Erie Indemnity. Erie Indemnity is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Brown & Brown, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Erie Indemnity	$3.80B	3.88	$600.31M	$11.96	26.69
Brown & Brown	$4.95B	6.33	$993M	$3.47	27.39

Do analysts recommend ERIE or BRO?

Brown & Brown has a consensus price target of $112.08, indicating a potential upside of 17.94%. Given Brown & Brown's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Brown & Brown is more favorable than Erie Indemnity.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Erie Indemnity	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Brown & Brown	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.44

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of ERIE or BRO?

33.7% of Erie Indemnity shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.0% of Brown & Brown shares are held by institutional investors. 45.8% of Erie Indemnity shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.0% of Brown & Brown shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is ERIE or BRO more profitable?

Brown & Brown has a net margin of 19.89% compared to Erie Indemnity's net margin of 15.73%. Erie Indemnity's return on equity of 30.53% beat Brown & Brown's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Erie Indemnity	15.73%	30.53%	21.10%
Brown & Brown	19.89%	15.10%	6.11%

Which has more risk and volatility, ERIE or BRO?

Erie Indemnity has a beta of 0.3, suggesting that its stock price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Brown & Brown has a beta of 0.79, suggesting that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor ERIE or BRO?

In the previous week, Brown & Brown had 61 more articles in the media than Erie Indemnity. MarketBeat recorded 63 mentions for Brown & Brown and 2 mentions for Erie Indemnity. Erie Indemnity's average media sentiment score of 1.29 beat Brown & Brown's score of 0.25 indicating that Erie Indemnity is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Erie Indemnity	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Brown & Brown	14 Very Positive mention(s)	13 Positive mention(s)	26 Neutral mention(s)	10 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Summary

Brown & Brown beats Erie Indemnity on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.