Ritholtz Wealth Management Grows Stock Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 33.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 686 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $304,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its position in Brown & Brown by 104.4% in the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Brown & Brown by 2.5% in the first quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 764,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,130,000 after buying an additional 18,677 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the first quarter worth $3,043,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in Brown & Brown by 22.0% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 18,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,314,000 after buying an additional 3,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Brown & Brown by 0.9% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 582,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,502,000 after buying an additional 5,106 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Brown & Brown from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays cut their price target on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $120.00 price target (down from $125.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Brown & Brown from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In other news, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $91.44 per share, with a total value of $91,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $457,200. This trade represents a 25.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Krump acquired 2,678 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $93.31 per share, with a total value of $249,884.18. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $499,488.43. This represents a 100.11% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 15.59% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

NYSE:BRO opened at $87.58 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.79. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52-week low of $86.79 and a 52-week high of $125.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $94.12 and a 200 day moving average of $103.44. 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 (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 19.89%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.29%.

Brown & Brown Profile

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.