Short Interest in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Rises By 16.3%

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,720,000 shares, a growth of 16.3% from the May 31st total of 3,200,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,200,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on BRO. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com lowered Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.40.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

NYSE BRO opened at $89.64 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $25.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.82. Brown & Brown has a twelve month low of $66.53 and a twelve month high of $93.75. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $88.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.78.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 16.43% and a net margin of 21.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Brown & Brown will post 3.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.00%.

Insider Transactions at Brown & Brown

In related news, EVP Julie Turpin sold 3,350 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.92, for a total value of $301,232.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,121,842.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 16.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.5% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 25,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,243,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Brown & Brown by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Tributary Capital Management LLC raised its position in Brown & Brown by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 16,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in Brown & Brown by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its position in Brown & Brown by 0.5% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 41,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,638,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.