Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO Stock Position Boosted by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC raised its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 749,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 45,137 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC owned 0.22% of Brown & Brown worth $45,638,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BRO. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the third quarter worth $2,547,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 7,129.0% in the third quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 95,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,789,000 after purchasing an additional 93,747 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 17.7% in the first quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 1,154,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,267,000 after purchasing an additional 173,265 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 46.5% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,573,902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $102,634,000 after purchasing an additional 499,902 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 6,588.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 289,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,540,000 after purchasing an additional 284,692 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on BRO. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $77.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, October 12th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $83.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Brown & Brown from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.00.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

BRO stock opened at $70.63 on Thursday. 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 $90.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $67.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.02. The company has a market capitalization of $23.63 billion, a PE ratio of 22.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.60.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 4th. This is an increase from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.1650. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is 20.82%.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc is an insurance brokerage and risk management company headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida. The company helps businesses, public entities, individuals and other organizations identify, manage and transfer risk by arranging insurance coverage and providing related advisory services.

Its operations include retail insurance brokerage, national programs, wholesale brokerage and services. Brown & Brown offers property and casualty insurance, employee benefits, personal insurance, surety and other specialized coverage.