Element Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 250,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,718,000. Brown & Brown accounts for 67.7% of Element Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in 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. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the second quarter worth about $1,109,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Brown & Brown by 30.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 760,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,360,000 after buying an additional 178,082 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,043,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 737.8% in the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 99,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,343,000 after acquiring an additional 87,379 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of BRO stock opened at $80.70 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $88.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.81. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $76.17 and a one year high of $125.68. The stock has a market cap of $27.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 6.72.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.15. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 18.23% and a return on equity of 13.64%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. Brown & Brown’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were given a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 19.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $122.00 to $106.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $97.00 price target (down from $135.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.23.

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.