Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. Purchases 1,771 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. increased its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 95,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,771 shares during the period. Brown & Brown comprises approximately 2.2% of Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $10,627,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bares Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 298.5% in the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Optimum Investment Advisors bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the first quarter worth about $31,000. SouthState Corp boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 188.6% in the 1st quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, Motco bought a new position in Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on BRO. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price objective (down previously from $125.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays lowered their price target on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Brown & Brown from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 20th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Brown & Brown from $120.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.38.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:BRO opened at $79.81 on Monday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $79.30 and a 1 year high of $125.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 6.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50-day moving average is $92.16 and its 200 day moving average is $101.35.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 18.23%.The firm’s revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 5th will be issued a $0.165 dividend. This is a boost from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.76%.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In other news, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $91.44 per share, with a total value of $91,440.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $457,200. This trade represents a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Krump purchased 2,678 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $93.31 per share, for a total transaction of $249,884.18. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $499,488.43. This trade represents a 100.11% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 17.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.