Fulcrum Asset Management LLP Acquires 23,199 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Fulcrum Asset Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 19,172.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 23,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 23,199 shares during the period. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $1,566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BRO. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,418,571,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter valued at $266,941,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Brown & Brown by 45.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,623,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $236,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,128,417 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 5.1% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,569,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $232,786,000 after purchasing an additional 173,320 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 7.5% in the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,587,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,553,000 after purchasing an additional 180,593 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BRO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Brown & Brown from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $77.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, October 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Brown & Brown from $76.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.47.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of BRO stock opened at $71.35 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.56. The company has a market cap of $23.67 billion, a PE ratio of 22.58, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.81 and a 12-month high of $82.57.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 13.29% and a net margin of 17.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 4th were given a $0.18 dividend. This is an increase from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.1650. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 4th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is currently 22.78%.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc. is an insurance brokerage and risk management company that helps businesses, public entities and individuals assess and manage risk. Its services include arranging property and casualty insurance, employee benefits and personal insurance, as well as providing risk management and related services. The company serves clients through retail insurance operations, national insurance programs, wholesale brokerage and insurance-related services. It operates primarily in the United States and also serves clients in international markets.