Whittier Trust Co. Increases Stock Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 177,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,977 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $19,678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRO. Bares Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the first quarter worth about $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 298.5% during the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. SouthState Corp raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 188.6% in the 1st quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 1,129.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BRO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $104.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Brown & Brown from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Brown & Brown from $122.00 to $106.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.92.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $87.58 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 6.72, a current ratio of 6.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $94.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.44. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52-week low of $86.79 and a 52-week high of $125.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.29%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $91.44 per share, for a total transaction of $91,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $457,200. The trade was a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Krump purchased 2,678 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director directly owned 5,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $499,488.43. The trade was a 100.11% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.