Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $114.10 and last traded at $114.06, with a volume of 109201 shares. The stock had previously closed at $113.42.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on BRO. Argus started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.42.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.73. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.38. The stock has a market cap of $32.38 billion, a PE ratio of 30.91, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.82.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 22.65% and a return on equity of 17.12%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is presently 16.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 16.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 330.4% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 298.5% during the 3rd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 142.3% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

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.