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

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

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays started 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. Argus began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a buy rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Brown & Brown from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and raised their price target for the company from $94.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $103.83.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

NYSE BRO opened at $105.86 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $102.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The company has a market cap of $30.20 billion, a PE ratio of 32.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.83. Brown & Brown has a 1-year low of $66.73 and a 1-year high of $106.37.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 7th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Brown & Brown news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,872,802.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total transaction of $14,071,226.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of Brown & Brown 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 in the company, valued at $8,872,802.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Congress Asset Management Co. MA bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,445,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in Brown & Brown by 105.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,059,711 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 24.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 687,783 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,598,000. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 50.5% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,413,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $123,714,000 after purchasing an additional 473,982 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

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.