Legal & General Group Plc Trims Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,117,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,647 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.34% of Brown & Brown worth $123,865,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. MAI Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 25.6% during the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 57,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,345,000 after acquiring an additional 11,665 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 29.5% in the second quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 887,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,419,000 after acquiring an additional 202,200 shares in the last quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the second quarter worth about $1,940,000. Finally, Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the second quarter worth about $266,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 1.2%

NYSE BRO opened at $79.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $87.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.51. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $76.17 and a one year high of $125.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 6.72 and a current ratio of 2.10. The company has a market capitalization of $27.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.77.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. Brown & Brown’s quarterly revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on BRO shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on Brown & Brown from $120.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $92.00 to $79.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $122.00 to $106.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average 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.