Clarkston Capital Partners LLC Has $44.16 Million Stock Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 22.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 554,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 156,010 shares during the quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $44,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Maseco LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth about $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 47,621 shares in the company, valued at $2,719,159.10. This represents a 4.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 13.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:BRO opened at $59.96 on Friday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $53.81 and a one year high of $111.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $61.11 and a 200-day moving average of $69.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $20.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.63.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. Brown & Brown’s revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is currently 21.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on BRO. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Citizens Jmp began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.44.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc (NYSE: BRO) is a professional insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm that provides a broad range of property and casualty, employee benefits, personal risk, and specialty insurance products. The company works with commercial, public sector and individual clients to design and place insurance programs, manage claims and loss control, and deliver risk management consulting. Its services also include wholesale brokerage, program administration and other specialty distribution solutions that connect carriers and intermediaries to niche markets.

Brown & Brown operates through a decentralized model of operating units and subsidiaries, enabling local client service with the scale to access national and specialty markets.