Citizens Jmp Begins Coverage on Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO)

Investment analysts at Citizens Jmp started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) in a research note issued on Thursday. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Citizens Jmp’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 21.92% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 report on Wednesday, April 29th. Argus raised shares of Brown & Brown to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Brown & Brown from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.44.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of BRO opened at $57.42 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $64.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.35. Brown & Brown has a one year low of $53.81 and a one year high of $113.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.46, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown 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 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 acquisition, the director owned 47,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. The trade was a 4.38% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 13.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRO. Capital World Investors raised its position in Brown & Brown by 81.1% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,479,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,639,392,000 after purchasing an additional 7,827,992 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth $516,837,000. Capital International Investors purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at about $371,654,000. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. raised its holdings 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 valued at $361,725,000 after buying an additional 2,589,048 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 13.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,416,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,445,888,000 after buying an additional 1,821,229 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.