Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Receives Underweight Rating from Morgan Stanley

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO)‘s stock had its “underweight” rating reiterated by Morgan Stanley in a research report issued on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $55.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $60.00. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 21.29% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently commented on BRO. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Brown & Brown from $81.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Brown & Brown from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.94.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 0.2%

BRO opened at $69.87 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $23.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.60. Brown & Brown has a 52 week low of $53.81 and a 52 week high of $108.75. The business’s 50 day moving average is $59.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 17.94%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Brown & Brown will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 47,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,719,159.10. This represents a 4.38% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 13.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown in the second quarter valued at $30,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

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.