Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Price Target to $69.00

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) had its price objective trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

BRO has been the topic of several other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.00.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of BRO stock traded down $2.57 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $57.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,792,374 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,535,749. The company has a 50 day moving average of $67.60 and a 200 day moving average of $75.18. The stock has a market cap of $19.52 billion, a PE ratio of 18.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Brown & Brown has a 12-month low of $57.46 and a 12-month high of $113.83.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is 21.22%.

Institutional Trading of Brown & Brown

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown during the first quarter worth $243,000. Carnegie Investment Counsel purchased a new position in Brown & Brown during the first quarter valued at $1,985,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 472.9% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 65,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,290,000 after purchasing an additional 54,305 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 27.3% during the first quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 14,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 1.7% during the first quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 10,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.