Analysts Set Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Price Target at $113.17

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and six have given 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 $112.67.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BRO shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $128.00 target price on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of BRO opened at $123.08 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $112.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.14. Brown & Brown has a fifty-two week low of $80.33 and a fifty-two week high of $123.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.19 billion, a PE ratio of 35.57, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. Equities analysts predict that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 17.34%.

Institutional Trading of Brown & Brown

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRO. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 324.3% during the 4th quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 19,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,967,000 after acquiring an additional 14,740 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.4% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 161,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,104,000 after purchasing an additional 6,805 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,356,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,394,000 after purchasing an additional 40,881 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 304,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,055,000 after purchasing an additional 50,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in Brown & Brown by 47.3% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 168,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,225,000 after purchasing an additional 54,246 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc is an insurance agency, wholesale brokerage, insurance program and service organization. It engages in the provision of insurance brokerage services and casualty insurance underwriting services. It operates through the following segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services.