Royal Bank of Canada Increases Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,882,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 56,033 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $294,065,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BRO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at $313,412,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 626.6% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,350,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $239,751,000 after acquiring an additional 2,026,589 shares during the period. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at $198,031,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,940,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,054,493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335,964 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 11,337.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,108,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099,199 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $111.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.97 and a 1 year high of $125.68. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $116.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.04. The stock has a market cap of $32.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.30, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.87.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.01). Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. The business had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 16.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BRO shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Edward Jones assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $126.00 to $119.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Brown & Brown has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.85.

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.