Swiss National Bank Has $98.42 Million Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 29.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 887,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 202,200 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $98,419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 7,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $924,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Burney Co. raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 17.1% during the first quarter. Burney Co. now owns 3,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 63.3% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,833 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,472,000 after purchasing an additional 4,589 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 20.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 43,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,458,000 after purchasing an additional 7,598 shares during the period. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.1% in the first quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 52,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,535,000 after purchasing an additional 2,077 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

NYSE:BRO opened at $80.34 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.77. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $76.17 and a twelve month high of $125.68. The company has a fifty day moving average of $87.35 and a 200-day moving average of $97.83. The company has a quick ratio of 6.72, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.15. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 18.23% and a return on equity of 13.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were issued a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 5th. This is an increase from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on BRO shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Brown & Brown from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $97.00 price target (down previously from $135.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.69.

Brown & Brown Company 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.