Brown & Brown (BRO) – Investment Analysts’ Recent Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have updated their recommendations and price targets on shares of Brown & Brown (NYSE: BRO) in the last few weeks:

• 10/16/2024 – Brown & Brown was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating.
• 10/16/2024 – Brown & Brown had its price target raised by analysts at Truist Financial Co. from $112.00 to $116.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 10/10/2024 – Brown & Brown had its price target raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $112.00 to $114.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 10/10/2024 – Brown & Brown had its price target raised by analysts at Bank of America Co. from $108.00 to $117.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 10/9/2024 – Brown & Brown had its price target raised by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group Inc. from $98.00 to $104.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.
• 9/24/2024 – Brown & Brown is now covered by analysts at Argus. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock.
• 9/4/2024 – Brown & Brown is now covered by analysts at Barclays PLC. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $108.00 price target on the stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Brown & Brown stock traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $106.28. 143,124 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,314,839. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.32 billion, a PE ratio of 32.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.83. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.30 and a fifty-two week high of $107.67. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $103.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 21.95%. Brown & Brown’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $250,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,872,802.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Brown & Brown news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was 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 through this hyperlink. Also, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $250,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,872,802.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Brown & Brown

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BRO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,355,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,482,223,000 after acquiring an additional 203,105 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,804,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,144,893,000 after purchasing an additional 86,824 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,915,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,638,000 after buying an additional 28,180 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 24.6% in the second 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. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 1,059,711 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.