Bares Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Bares Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000. Brown & Brown comprises about 0.0% of Bares Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Visualize Group LP raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Visualize Group LP now owns 185,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,026,000 after purchasing an additional 17,894 shares during the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 57.4% during the 1st quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 10,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,282,000 after purchasing an additional 3,756 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,063,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $381,129,000 after purchasing an additional 181,315 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 39.1% in the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the first quarter worth approximately $1,111,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Brown & Brown news, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $91.44 per share, with a total value of $91,440.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $457,200. This represents a 25.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Krump purchased 2,678 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $93.31 per share, with a total value of $249,884.18. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $499,488.43. This represents a 100.11% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 15.59% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:BRO opened at $97.02 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.96, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 6.72 and a current ratio of 6.72. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52-week low of $90.38 and a 52-week high of $125.68.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is presently 17.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BRO shares. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup started coverage on Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $126.00 to $119.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Brown & Brown from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $104.00 to $101.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Brown & Brown from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.64.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc is an insurance agency, wholesale brokerage, insurance program and service organization. It engages in the provision of insurance brokerage services and casualty insurance underwriting services. It operates through the following segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services.