Argus Begins Coverage on Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO)

Argus started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) in a research note published on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $120.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $94.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $101.67.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

NYSE BRO opened at $102.99 on Tuesday. Brown & Brown has a 52-week low of $66.73 and a 52-week high of $106.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The company has a market capitalization of $29.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a fifty day moving average of $101.47 and a 200-day moving average of $92.32.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.05. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Brown & Brown will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 7th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.00%.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In related news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total transaction of $250,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at $8,872,802.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total transaction of $250,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at $8,872,802.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total transaction of $14,071,226.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 2.5% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 267,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,390,000 after acquiring an additional 6,613 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 12.7% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 276,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,169,000 after acquiring an additional 31,071 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. bought a new stake in Brown & Brown during the second quarter worth about $1,512,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 12.4% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 251,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,855,000 after acquiring an additional 27,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 339.1% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 648,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,118,000 after acquiring an additional 500,847 shares in the last quarter. 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.