BMO Capital Markets Issues Positive Forecast for Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Stock Price

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) had its price objective hoisted by stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $73.00 to $74.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price would suggest a potential downside of 0.73% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on BRO. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Brown & Brown from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell 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 $78.75.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BRO traded up $0.89 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $74.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 225,412 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,243,197. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.54. Brown & Brown has a fifty-two week low of $53.81 and a fifty-two week high of $98.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 13.19%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $57.10 per share, with a total value of $114,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 47,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. This trade represents a 4.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 13.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $516,837,000. Capital International Investors bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth approximately $371,654,000. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 132.8% during the 4th quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 4,538,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $361,725,000 after purchasing an additional 2,589,048 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 53.0% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,929,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $313,178,000 after buying an additional 1,361,934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 1,679.0% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,204,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $112,953,000 after buying an additional 1,136,623 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

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.