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Brown & Brown (BRO) Q1 Earnings & Revenues Surpass Estimates

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Brown & Brown, Inc.’s (BRO - Free Report) first-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of $1.14 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.5%. The bottom line increased 18.7% year over year.

The quarterly results reflected strong organic growth, improved EBITDAC margin and higher commission and fees, partly offset by higher expenses.

Brown & Brown, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Brown & Brown, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Brown & Brown, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Brown & Brown, Inc. Quote

Q1 Details

Total revenues of $1.25 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.8%. The top line improved 12.7% year over year. The upside can be primarily attributed to commission and fees, which grew 11.6% year over year to $1.2 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for commission and fees was pegged at $1.1 billion.

Organic revenues improved 8.6% to $1.15 billion in the quarter under review.
Investment income more than doubled year over year to $18 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the metric was pegged at $17.3 million.
Adjusted EBITDAC was $466 million, up 17.1% year over year. EBITDAC margin increased to 37% year over year from 35.7%.

Total expenses increased 8.7% to $894 million due to a rise in employee compensation and benefits, amortization, depreciation and interest.

Financial Update

Brown & Brown exited the first quarter of 2024 with cash and cash equivalents of $581 million, down 17% from the 2023-end level.

Long-term debt of $3 billion as of Mar 31, 2024, decreased 6.7% from the 2023-end level.

Net cash provided by operating activities in the first quarter of 2024 was $13 million, down 78.3% year over year.

Dividend Update

The board of directors approved a regular quarterly cash dividend of 13 cents per share to be paid out on May 15, 2024, to shareholders of record as of May 6, 2024.

Zacks Rank

Brown & Brown currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Performance of Other Insurers

The Travelers Companies (TRV - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2024 core income of $4.69 per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.75 on higher-than-expected catastrophe loss. The bottom line increased 14.1% year over year. Travelers’ total revenues increased 15.3% from the year-ago quarter to $11.2 billion, primarily driven by higher premiums. The top-line figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.1%.

Net written premiums increased 8% year over year to about $10.2 billion, driven by strong growth across all three segments. The figure was higher than our estimate of $9.9 billion. Net investment income increased 27.6% year over year to $846 million.

The Progressive Corporation’s (PGR - Free Report) first-quarter 2024 earnings per share of $3.83 beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.20. The bottom line improved nearly eight times year over year. Operating revenues of $17.1 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.4% and increased 20.1% year over year.

Net premiums earned grew 19% to $16 billion and beat our estimate of $14.4 billion. Combined ratio — the percentage of premiums paid out as claims and expenses — improved 1,290 basis points from the prior-year quarter’s level to 86.1.

RLI Corp. (RLI - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2024 operating earnings of $1.89 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate as well as the year-ago number by 16%. Operating revenues for the reported quarter were $394 million, up 17.6% year over year, driven by 17% higher net premiums earned and 21.3% higher net investment income. The top line, however, missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.1%.

Gross premiums written increased 13% year over year to $468 million. This uptick can be attributed to the solid performance of the Casualty (up 12.6%), Property (up 13.5%) and Surety segments (up 12.1%). Our estimate was $511 million. Underwriting income of $77.7 million increased 16%. Combined ratio deteriorated 60 basis points year over year to 78.5. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the metric was pegged at 85, while our estimate was 77.7.

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