Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $121.30 and last traded at $121.02, with a volume of 1325066 shares. The stock had previously closed at $118.52.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BRO shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $128.00 price objective on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.67.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $112.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.94. The firm has a market cap of $34.81 billion, a PE ratio of 35.19, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. Sell-side analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is currently 17.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BRO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $313,412,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 626.6% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,350,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $239,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,026,589 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at $198,031,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,940,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,054,493,000 after buying an additional 1,335,964 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 11,337.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,108,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,109,000 after buying an additional 1,099,199 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

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.