Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Stock Price

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) had its target price cut by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $84.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 6.43% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on BRO. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $97.00 price objective (down previously from $135.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Monday, November 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $91.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $120.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup cut Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.27.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Brown & Brown stock traded down $0.69 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $78.93. 425,204 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,554,012. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $79.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.16. The stock has a market cap of $26.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.81. Brown & Brown has a one year low of $76.17 and a one year high of $125.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Brown & Brown will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brown & Brown

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRO. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Brown & Brown during the second quarter worth about $1,109,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,166,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $461,925,000 after purchasing an additional 46,235 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 30.6% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 760,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,360,000 after purchasing an additional 178,082 shares in the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,432,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the second quarter worth approximately $1,635,000. Hedge funds and other 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.