Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Price Target Increased to $104.00 by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) had its target price lifted by Jefferies Financial Group from $98.00 to $104.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on BRO. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays began coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an equal weight rating and a $108.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised Brown & Brown from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $105.33.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of BRO opened at $104.75 on Wednesday. Brown & Brown has a twelve month low of $66.73 and a twelve month high of $106.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $102.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.88 billion, a PE ratio of 32.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.05. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 21.95%. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is currently 16.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Brown & Brown news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Brown & Brown

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 330.4% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. First PREMIER Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 1st quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Intelligent Financial Strategies acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 1st quarter worth $45,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.