Candriam S.C.A. Raises Stock Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Candriam S.C.A. increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 6.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 273,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,417 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. owned 0.10% of Brown & Brown worth $33,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,501,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,794,339,000 after purchasing an additional 560,980 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,940,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,609,742,000 after purchasing an additional 38,078 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,120,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $512,545,000 after acquiring an additional 316,519 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,882,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $294,065,000 after acquiring an additional 56,033 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 1.4% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,353,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $292,760,000 after buying an additional 33,178 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $122.00 to $106.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $126.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Brown & Brown from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In other news, Director Paul J. Krump bought 2,678 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was acquired 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 in the company, valued at approximately $499,488.43. This trade represents a 100.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada purchased 1,000 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $91.44 per share, for a total transaction of $91,440.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $457,200. The trade was a 25.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 15.59% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Brown & Brown stock opened at $96.8360 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.30. The stock has a market cap of $31.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.38 and a 12-month high of $125.68. 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 (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 19.89%.The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. Brown & Brown’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is currently 17.29%.

About Brown & Brown

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.