Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $117.50.

BRO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on 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 lifted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group increased their target price on Brown & Brown from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $128.00 price target on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth approximately $313,412,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,026,589 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter valued at $198,031,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $3,054,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,964 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 13,974.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,112,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $138,427,000 after buying an additional 1,104,852 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of BRO stock opened at $118.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. Brown & Brown has a one year low of $80.87 and a one year high of $125.68. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $117.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.25. The company has a market capitalization of $33.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.22, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.75.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.