In This Article:
Brown & Brown, Inc.’s BRO fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of 86 cents per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 14.7%. The bottom line increased 48.3% year over year.
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The quarterly results reflected improved organic revenues, driven by higher commission and fees and investment income and expanded EBITDAC margin, offset by higher expenses.
Shares gained 1.9% in after-market trading to reflect the outperformance.
Brown & Brown, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Brown & Brown, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Brown & Brown, Inc. Quote
BRO’s Q4 Details
Total revenues of $1.2 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.4%. The top line improved 15.4% year over year. The upside can be primarily attributed to commission and fees, which grew 15.4% year over year to $1.1 billion. Our estimate for commission and fees was $1 billion. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at $1.1 billion. Organic revenues improved 13.8% to $1.1 billion in the quarter under review.
Investment income increased 22.2% year over year to $22 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the metric was pegged at $20.7 million and our estimate was $31.8 million.
Adjusted EBITDAC was $390 million, up 22.6% year over year. EBITDAC margin expanded 190 basis points (bps) year over year to 32.9%. Our estimate for adjusted EBITDAC was $366.3 million.
Total expenses increased 35.72% to $909 million due to a rise in employee compensation and benefits, other operating expenses, amortization, depreciation and interest. Our estimate was $801.2 million.
Full-Year Highlights
Adjusted earnings of $3.25 per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.73 per share. The bottom line increased 81.2% year over year.
Total revenues of $4.8 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.7 billion. The top line improved 12.9% year over year. Organic revenues increased 10.4%.
Adjusted EBITDAC increased 17% to $1.7 billion, while adjusted EBITDAC margin expanded 130 bps to 35.2%.
Financial Update of BRO
Brown & Brown exited 2024 with cash and cash equivalents of $2.5 billion, which increased 8.6% from the 2023-end level. Long-term debt was $4 billion as of Dec. 30, 2024, up 11.5% from the 2023-end level. Net cash provided by operating activities in 2024 was $1.6 billion, up 16.2% year over year.
Dividend Update
The board of directors paid a regular cash dividend of $154 million in the reported quarter.
Zacks Rank
BRO currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.