Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Given New $78.00 Price Target at Citizens Jmp

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) had its price objective boosted by analysts at Citizens Jmp from $70.00 to $78.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Citizens Jmp’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 14.86% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $69.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings cut Brown & Brown from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Brown & Brown from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $55.00 in a report on Monday. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.06.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $67.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $23.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s fifty day moving average is $59.93 and its 200 day moving average is $67.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Brown & Brown has a twelve month low of $53.81 and a twelve month high of $108.36.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. Brown & Brown’s quarterly revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In related news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 47,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. This represents a 4.38% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 13.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Brown & Brown

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Triad Investment Management bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,314,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new stake in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,226,000. Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 552,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,074,000 after purchasing an additional 19,503 shares during the last quarter. Barr E S & Co. grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. Barr E S & Co. now owns 362,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,905,000 after buying an additional 57,971 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 38.5% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 413,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,941,000 after buying an additional 114,959 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

About Brown & Brown

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.