Brokerages Set Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) PT at $106.50

Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the twelve analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $106.50.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Brown & Brown from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, November 2nd.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

BRO stock traded down $0.68 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $108.67. 174,393 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,312,049. Brown & Brown has a twelve month low of $69.13 and a twelve month high of $114.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.82. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.46.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 22.65% and a return on equity of 17.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Brown & Brown will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.35%.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total value of $14,071,226.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 16.43% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BRO. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,804,979 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,144,893,000 after purchasing an additional 86,824 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,915,425 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $405,638,000 after buying an additional 28,180 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Brown & Brown by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,489,305 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $311,979,000 after buying an additional 687,783 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 17.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,466,582 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $255,537,000 after purchasing an additional 371,980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 105.1% in the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,068,333 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $184,930,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059,711 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

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.