Raymond James Boosts Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Price Target to $95.00

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) had its price objective hoisted by Raymond James from $90.00 to $95.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on BRO. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Bank of America lowered shares of Brown & Brown from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $84.90.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $87.54 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $82.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.46. Brown & Brown has a 1-year low of $55.99 and a 1-year high of $87.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The company has a market cap of $24.98 billion, a PE ratio of 28.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.78.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 15.46%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.99%.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In related news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 144,323 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.96, for a total transaction of $12,406,005.08. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 37,460,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,220,113,605.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 17.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 51,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,601,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Advisor Partners II LLC lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 1.3% during the first quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 11,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $680,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $449,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 25,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,481,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tributary Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 16,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,186,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

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.