Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Cuts Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Price Target to $79.00

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) had its target price decreased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $92.00 to $79.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an underperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on BRO. Barclays cut their price objective on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group cut their target price on Brown & Brown from $120.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $122.00 to $106.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Brown & Brown has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.23.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

BRO stock opened at $76.40 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.47. The stock has a market cap of $26.08 billion, a PE ratio of 22.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.77. Brown & Brown has a one year low of $76.17 and a one year high of $125.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 6.72.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 18.23% and a return on equity of 13.64%. The firm’s revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.76%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 19.1% in the first quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 4,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $480,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 746 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 1,107.5% during the 1st quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 20,842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,591,000 after purchasing an additional 19,116 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 45.7% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 6.2% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 801,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $99,669,000 after buying an additional 46,638 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc is an insurance agency, wholesale brokerage, insurance program and service organization. It engages in the provision of insurance brokerage services and casualty insurance underwriting services. It operates through the following segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services.