Danske Bank A S Takes $12.81 Million Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 199,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,815,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Brown & Brown by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,634,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,999,497,000 after purchasing an additional 303,955 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the second quarter worth $1,418,571,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,886,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,425,546,000 after buying an additional 407,006 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,608,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,017,847,000 after buying an additional 246,172 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,403,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,068,284,000 after buying an additional 282,988 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE:BRO opened at $72.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.73, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.59. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.81 and a 1-year high of $97.73. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $67.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 2.11.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted 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). Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BRO shares. Citizens Jmp upped their target price on Brown & Brown from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Brown & Brown from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Brown & Brown from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.80.

Brown & Brown Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc (NYSE: BRO) is a professional insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm that provides a broad range of property and casualty, employee benefits, personal risk, and specialty insurance products. The company works with commercial, public sector and individual clients to design and place insurance programs, manage claims and loss control, and deliver risk management consulting. Its services also include wholesale brokerage, program administration and other specialty distribution solutions that connect carriers and intermediaries to niche markets.

Brown & Brown operates through a decentralized model of operating units and subsidiaries, enabling local client service with the scale to access national and specialty markets.