Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Positive Forecast for Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Stock Price

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) had its price target boosted by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $72.00 to $74.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 6.84% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on BRO. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Citigroup started coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued a “market outperform” rating for the company. UBS Group cut their target price on Brown & Brown from $81.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.31.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $69.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $59.79 and a 200-day moving average of $67.78. Brown & Brown has a 52-week low of $53.81 and a 52-week high of $108.36. The stock has a market cap of $23.48 billion, a PE ratio of 22.27, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.60.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. Brown & Brown’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 47,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. This represents a 4.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 13.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 38.3% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 33,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,132,000 after purchasing an additional 9,264 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 5.2% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 11,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,387,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 1,824.7% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 53,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,888,000 after purchasing an additional 50,344 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Brown & Brown by 27.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC raised its position in Brown & Brown by 60.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc (NYSE: BRO) is a professional insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm that provides a broad range of property and casualty, employee benefits, personal risk, and specialty insurance products. The company works with commercial, public sector and individual clients to design and place insurance programs, manage claims and loss control, and deliver risk management consulting. Its services also include wholesale brokerage, program administration and other specialty distribution solutions that connect carriers and intermediaries to niche markets.

Brown & Brown operates through a decentralized model of operating units and subsidiaries, enabling local client service with the scale to access national and specialty markets.