Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Given “Equal Weight” Rating at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley restated their equal weight rating on shares of Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) in a research note published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $128.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on BRO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America increased their price target on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.67.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of BRO stock opened at $123.08 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $112.98 and a 200 day moving average of $108.14. Brown & Brown has a 1 year low of $80.33 and a 1 year high of $123.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. As a group, research analysts expect that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.34%.

Institutional Trading of Brown & Brown

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 324.3% during the 4th quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 19,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,967,000 after buying an additional 14,740 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 4.4% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 161,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,104,000 after purchasing an additional 6,805 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,356,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,394,000 after purchasing an additional 40,881 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 304,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,055,000 after purchasing an additional 50,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 47.3% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 168,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,225,000 after purchasing an additional 54,246 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc is an insurance agency, wholesale brokerage, insurance program and service organization. It engages in the provision of insurance brokerage services and casualty insurance underwriting services. It operates through the following segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services.