Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO Stock Position Increased by Balefire LLC

Balefire LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 427.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 50,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,592 shares during the period. Balefire LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $3,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the second quarter valued at $1,418,571,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Brown & Brown by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,608,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,017,847,000 after purchasing an additional 246,172 shares during the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 132.8% during the 4th quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 4,538,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,725,000 after purchasing an additional 2,589,048 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 53.0% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,929,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $313,178,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,397,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $270,820,000 after buying an additional 882,830 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

BRO traded down $0.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $62.88. 1,637,368 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,965,977. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $67.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.81 and a 52-week high of $96.13.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 17.75%.The business’s revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.1650 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 12th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is currently 20.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on BRO. Truist Financial set a $90.00 price target on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Brown & Brown from $76.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Brown & Brown from $69.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on Brown & Brown from $83.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.62.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc is an independent insurance brokerage, risk management and employee benefits firm headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida. The company helps businesses, public entities and individuals identify, manage and transfer risk through insurance placement, risk consulting and related services.

Its offerings include property and casualty insurance, employee benefits, personal insurance, surety products, risk management services and specialized insurance programs. Brown & Brown also operates wholesale brokerage businesses that provide coverage solutions and access to insurance markets for retail agents and brokers, including products designed for specialty and hard-to-place risks.

Founded in 1939 by J.