Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Price Target Raised to $120.00

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) had its target price lifted by UBS Group from $110.00 to $120.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on BRO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Brown & Brown from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $128.00 price objective on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.83.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $118.88 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $116.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.36, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.75. Brown & Brown has a 12-month low of $80.33 and a 12-month high of $125.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. Analysts predict that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 17.34%.

Institutional Trading of Brown & Brown

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BRO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth approximately $313,412,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Brown & Brown by 626.6% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,350,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $239,751,000 after acquiring an additional 2,026,589 shares during the period. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter valued at $198,031,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,940,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,054,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,964 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 13,974.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,112,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104,852 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Brown & Brown

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.