Danske Bank A S Buys 19,800 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Danske Bank A S lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 202,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,800 shares during the quarter. Danske Bank A S’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $16,128,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Triad Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth $4,314,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.8% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,420,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,258,000 after purchasing an additional 51,959 shares during the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 69.7% in the third quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,385,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $129,919,000 after purchasing an additional 569,037 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,330,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,501,264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705,570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 43.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 48,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,558,000 after purchasing an additional 14,678 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 0.1%

Brown & Brown stock opened at $57.58 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $19.52 billion, a PE ratio of 18.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $57.46 and a one year high of $113.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $67.60 and a 200 day moving average of $74.90.

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

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Brown & Brown from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $81.00 price target (down from $90.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Argus upgraded Brown & Brown to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.00.

About Brown & Brown

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.