Wolfe Research Begins Coverage on Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO)

Investment analysts at Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set a “peer perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $122.00 to $106.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Brown & Brown from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 20th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $97.00 price objective (down from $135.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.69.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of BRO stock opened at $80.34 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $27.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 6.72, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Brown & Brown has a fifty-two week low of $76.17 and a fifty-two week high of $125.68. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.92.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.15. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 18.23% and a return on equity of 13.64%. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Brown & Brown

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 81.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,479,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,639,392,000 after acquiring an additional 7,827,992 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the first quarter worth approximately $899,139,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 16.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,625,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,949,779,000 after purchasing an additional 5,124,203 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter valued at $433,740,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,416,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,445,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,821,229 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

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.