Royal Bank Of Canada Cuts Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Price Target to $72.00

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) had its price target trimmed by Royal Bank Of Canada from $76.00 to $72.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on BRO. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $81.00 price target (down from $90.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Argus upgraded shares of Brown & Brown to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.00.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 4.3%

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $57.58 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $67.60 and a 200 day moving average of $75.18. Brown & Brown has a fifty-two week low of $57.46 and a fifty-two week high of $113.83.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. The company 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital World Investors raised its position in Brown & Brown by 81.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 7,827,992 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth about $516,837,000. Capital International Investors purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth about $371,654,000. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. raised its position in Brown & Brown by 132.8% in 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 during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in 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 worth $1,445,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,821,229 shares during the period. 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.