Sterne Agee: Brown & Brown's 4Q11 EPS Beat was Driven by Contingents

In a research report published today, Sterne Agee says that Brown & Brown Inc.'s

4Q11 EPS beat is owed largely in part of to higher contingent income, higher other income, and benefit from change in earn-out payable. In the report, Sterne Agee said, “Our 2012 and 2013 estimates remain unchanged at $1.25 and $1.45, respectively. While total organic growth was slightly better sequentially, we view the result as mixed. The improvement in Wholesale business and Florida Retail will be encouraging to investors. However, the rest of the Retail business (National and Western segments) continued to remain very weak with no meaningful improvement in trend.” Sterne Agee maintains its Neutral rating and $25 PT on Brown & Brown, which closed Friday at $23.35.