Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. Increases Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. increased its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 628 shares during the quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $1,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BRO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at $313,412,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,026,589 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at $198,031,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,335,964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,099,199 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE BRO opened at $111.75 on Monday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $85.97 and a 1-year high of $125.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $116.27 and a 200-day moving average of $111.09. The firm has a market cap of $32.03 billion, a PE ratio of 32.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Brown & Brown from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Brown & Brown from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $128.00 target price on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Brown & Brown presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.