Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Stock Price

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) had its target price trimmed by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $99.00 to $97.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Argus started coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.08.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $102.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $29.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.85. Brown & Brown has a twelve month low of $72.19 and a twelve month high of $114.15. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.62.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 22.65% and a return on equity of 17.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Brown & Brown will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. This is an increase from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is currently 16.35%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,915,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,638,000 after acquiring an additional 28,180 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 24.6% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 17.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,466,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,537,000 after purchasing an additional 371,980 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 8.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,553,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $138,899,000 after buying an additional 114,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its position in Brown & Brown by 7.0% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,508,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,841,000 after buying an additional 99,155 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

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.