Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $109.46.

Several research analysts recently commented on BRO shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Argus began coverage on Brown & Brown in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Brown & Brown from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of Brown & Brown stock traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $104.19. 1,208,228 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,309,496. Brown & Brown has a one year low of $69.13 and a one year high of $114.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $107.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.09.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 22.65% and a return on equity of 17.12%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Brown & Brown will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Brown & Brown's payout ratio is 16.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 105.1% in the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,068,333 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $184,930,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059,711 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 24.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,489,305 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $311,979,000 after buying an additional 687,783 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 258.0% in the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 646,574 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $66,985,000 after purchasing an additional 465,988 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 123.9% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 733,668 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $65,597,000 after buying an additional 406,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 392.3% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 472,953 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,287,000 after purchasing an additional 376,892 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.