Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.50.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BRO opened at $104.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 1.73. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $104.20 and its 200-day moving average is $96.10. The company has a market cap of $29.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.82. Brown & Brown has a 52-week low of $69.13 and a 52-week high of $107.67.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.12% and a net margin of 22.65%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. Brown & Brown’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Brown & Brown will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In other news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total transaction of $250,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,872,802.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at $8,872,802.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 17.02% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brown & Brown

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BRO. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $892,000 after buying an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.5% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 25,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,243,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 14.1% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 4,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 71.2% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 6,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 2,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $586,000. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.