Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $121.25 and last traded at $120.53, with a volume of 336001 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $118.65.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BRO shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.17.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $108.13 and a 200-day moving average of $106.66. The firm has a market cap of $34.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brown & Brown

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth about $313,412,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 626.6% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,350,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $239,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,026,589 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $198,031,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,940,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,054,493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335,964 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 11,337.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,108,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099,199 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc is an insurance agency, wholesale brokerage, insurance program and service organization. It engages in the provision of insurance brokerage services and casualty insurance underwriting services. It operates through the following segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services.