Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Upgraded to “Outperform” at Mizuho

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) was upgraded by investment analysts at Mizuho from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a $85.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $84.00. Mizuho’s price objective points to a potential upside of 19.37% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $83.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, December 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $91.00 price target for the company. Citigroup lowered Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.43.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $71.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $75.51 and a 200-day moving average of $83.68. Brown & Brown has a 12 month low of $65.68 and a 12 month high of $125.68. The company has a market capitalization of $24.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.79.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.84% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $448,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 55.2% in the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 9,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $736,000 after purchasing an additional 3,284 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,858,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $227,816,000 after purchasing an additional 456,412 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $536,000. Finally, Delta Global Management LP increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Delta Global Management LP now owns 26,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,090,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during 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.