Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 55,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,196,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 16.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,625,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,949,779,000 after purchasing an additional 5,124,203 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown during the second quarter worth about $433,740,000. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown during the second quarter worth about $171,163,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,460,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,381,531,000 after buying an additional 1,262,139 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 16.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,369,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $813,624,000 after buying an additional 1,050,350 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $79.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $27.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $76.17 and a twelve month high of $125.68. The company’s fifty day moving average is $79.88 and its 200 day moving average is $88.44.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 18.23%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 4th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 19.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on BRO. Citigroup lowered shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Mizuho set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Brown & Brown and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.67.

Brown & Brown 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.