Barclays Cuts Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Price Target to $83.00

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) had its target price reduced by Barclays from $84.00 to $83.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Brown & Brown from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 20th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $120.00 to $114.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.80.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

BRO stock opened at $80.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $27.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $79.80 and its 200 day moving average is $90.49. Brown & Brown has a 52 week low of $76.17 and a 52 week high of $125.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.15. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 18.23% and a return on equity of 13.64%. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 5th were paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. This is an increase from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is currently 19.76%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 423.1% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 298.5% during the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Motco bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 1,129.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc (NYSE: BRO) is a professional insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm that provides a broad range of property and casualty, employee benefits, personal risk, and specialty insurance products. The company works with commercial, public sector and individual clients to design and place insurance programs, manage claims and loss control, and deliver risk management consulting. Its services also include wholesale brokerage, program administration and other specialty distribution solutions that connect carriers and intermediaries to niche markets.

Brown & Brown operates through a decentralized model of operating units and subsidiaries, enabling local client service with the scale to access national and specialty markets.