Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO Stake Raised by Aberdeen Group plc

Aberdeen Group plc increased its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 90.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 163,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 77,954 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $20,268,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 1st quarter worth about $1,929,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 104.4% during the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $847,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 764,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,130,000 after purchasing an additional 18,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth about $580,000. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Brown & Brown news, Director Paul J. Krump bought 2,678 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $93.31 per share, with a total value of $249,884.18. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $499,488.43. This represents a 100.11% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $91.44 per share, for a total transaction of $91,440.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $457,200. This represents a 25.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 17.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BRO. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price target (down from $125.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Brown & Brown from $104.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Brown & Brown from $120.00 to $109.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Brown & Brown from $122.00 to $106.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.93.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

BRO opened at $95.35 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $103.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.46. The company has a quick ratio of 6.72, a current ratio of 6.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.38 and a 12-month high of $125.68.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 19.89%. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.29%.

Brown & Brown 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.