Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. Acquires Shares of 16,716 Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 16,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,332,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 423.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Maseco LLP acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on BRO. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They set a “market outperform” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 47,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,719,159.10. The trade was a 4.38% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 13.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of BRO opened at $56.63 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.20 billion, a PE ratio of 18.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.63. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $53.81 and a one year high of $113.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $62.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.16.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.22%.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

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.