Brown & Brown’s Earnings

After the bell, Brown & Brown (BRO) reported earnings for the fourth quarter of 25 cents a share. Revenues rose 20.7%, and earnings-per-share increased 17.2%.
What else can I say? This company just grows and grows. They finished off their 13th straight year of record sales and earnings. For the year, Brown & Brown earned $1.08 a share, a 16.1% increase over last year. Slow and steady wins the race.
I think the stock is slightly expensive right now. I think they’ll earn about $1.27 a share this year (the current consensus is $1.24). If it pulls back below $23, it’ll be a terrific buy.

Commenting on the results, J. Hyatt Brown, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are quite pleased to again announce outstanding earnings growth of at least 15% per share, the thirteenth consecutive year we have achieved this remarkable goal. Even though this past year’s hurricane season had a very dramatic impact on our people and clients, the strength of the Brown & Brown culture and our people allowed us to overcome these challenges. This single-minded effort has brought us ever closer to our active intermediate goal of achieving B-40, that is, $1 billion in revenue and a 40% operating margin (pre-tax income with interest, amortization and non-cash stock grant compensation expense added back). We feel quite positive about our ability to continue growing in the future.”

Posted by on February 9th, 2006 at 5:36 pm


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