Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Sets New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $108.00 to $117.00. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Brown & Brown traded as high as $106.11 and last traded at $105.99, with a volume of 62327 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $105.25.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.33.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In related news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $250,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at $8,872,802.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total transaction of $250,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at $8,872,802.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total value of $14,071,226.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 17.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 267,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,390,000 after acquiring an additional 6,613 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 276,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,169,000 after purchasing an additional 31,071 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,512,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 251,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,855,000 after buying an additional 27,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 2,650.9% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 99,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,741,000 after buying an additional 96,226 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 2.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $102.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.79, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.83.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.05. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. Brown & Brown’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.69 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 14.94%.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc markets and sells insurance products and services in the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services. The Retail segment provides property and casualty, employee benefits insurance products, personal insurance products, specialties insurance products, risk management strategies, loss control survey and analysis, consultancy, and claims processing services.