Financial Review: Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) and The Baldwin Insurance Group (NASDAQ:BWIN)

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) and The Baldwin Insurance Group (NASDAQ:BWIN) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Brown & Brown and The Baldwin Insurance Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Brown & Brown	1	4	5	0	2.40
The Baldwin Insurance Group	0	0	1	1	3.50

Brown & Brown currently has a consensus price target of $89.40, suggesting a potential downside of 0.04%. The Baldwin Insurance Group has a consensus price target of $42.50, suggesting a potential upside of 18.48%. Given The Baldwin Insurance Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe The Baldwin Insurance Group is more favorable than Brown & Brown.

Risk & Volatility

Brown & Brown has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, The Baldwin Insurance Group has a beta of 1.59, meaning that its share price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Brown & Brown and The Baldwin Insurance Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Brown & Brown	21.09%	16.43%	6.15%
The Baldwin Insurance Group	-4.29%	9.21%	2.82%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Brown & Brown and The Baldwin Insurance Group’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Brown & Brown	$4.26 billion	6.01	$870.50 million	$3.25	27.58
The Baldwin Insurance Group	$1.22 billion	3.48	-$90.14 million	($0.92)	-39.26

Brown & Brown has higher revenue and earnings than The Baldwin Insurance Group. The Baldwin Insurance Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Brown & Brown, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

71.0% of Brown & Brown shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.4% of The Baldwin Insurance Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 16.4% of Brown & Brown shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.1% of The Baldwin Insurance Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Brown & Brown beats The Baldwin Insurance Group on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. It serves commercial, public and quasi-public entities, professional, and individual customers. The National Programs segment offers professional liability and related package insurance products for dentistry, legal, eyecare, insurance, financial, physicians, real estate title professionals, as well as supplementary insurance products related to weddings, events, medical facilities, and cyber liabilities. This segment also provides public entity-related and specialty programs through a network of independent agents; and program management services for insurance carrier partners. The Wholesale Brokerage segment markets and sells excess and surplus commercial and personal lines insurance through independent agents and brokers. The Services segment offers third-party claims administration and medical utilization management services in the workers' compensation and all-lines liability arenas, Medicare Set-aside, Social Security disability, Medicare benefits advocacy, and claims adjusting services. Brown & Brown, Inc. was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida.

About The Baldwin Insurance Group

The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. operates as an independent insurance distribution firm that delivers insurance and risk management solutions in the United States. It operates through three segments: Insurance Advisory Solutions; Underwriting, Capacity & Technology Solutions; and Mainstreet Insurance Solutions. The Insurance Advisory Solutions segment provides commercial risk management, employee benefits, and private risk management solutions for businesses and high-net-worth individuals, as well as their families. The Underwriting, Capacity & Technology Solutions segment offers Future platform, that manufactures technology-enabled insurance products suite comprises personal, commercial, and specialty lines; specialty wholesale broker business that delivers professionals, individuals, and niche industry businesses; and reinsurance brokerage services. The Mainstreet Insurance Solutions segment provides personal insurance, commercial insurance, and life and health solutions to individuals and businesses in communities. The company was formerly known as BRP Group, Inc. and changed its name to The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. in May 2024. The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.