Vise Technologies Inc. Makes New Investment in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 13,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $869,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BRO. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of BRO opened at $72.89 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.59. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.81 and a 52-week high of $97.73. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $67.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.75.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 17.75%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. Research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Brown & Brown from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $69.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Brown & Brown from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $79.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Citizens Jmp boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.80.

About Brown & Brown

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.