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

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) had its price target upped by Citizens Jmp from $70.00 to $78.00 in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley cut Brown & Brown from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $60.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America decreased their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Brown & Brown from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $69.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.06.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Brown & Brown stock traded down $0.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $67.65. 1,244,106 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,696,750. 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 $108.23. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $60.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 47,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. This trade represents a 4.38% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 13.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Brown & Brown

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tema ETFs LLC lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 47.7% in the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 6,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 2,052 shares in the last quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 100.0% during the second quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC now owns 1,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 5.8% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 89,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,718,000 after acquiring an additional 4,900 shares during the period. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the second quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter valued at $201,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.