Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO Stake Lifted by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 428.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,916 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $1,967,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BRO. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Brown & Brown during the second quarter worth approximately $1,418,571,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown in the second quarter worth approximately $266,941,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 45.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,128,417 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,569,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $232,786,000 after purchasing an additional 173,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,587,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,553,000 after purchasing an additional 180,593 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BRO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on Brown & Brown from $79.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Brown & Brown from $69.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 12th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Brown & Brown from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Monday, October 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.82.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO traded up $1.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $71.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,798,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,771,330. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $66.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.51. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $53.81 and a one year high of $82.57. The company has a market cap of $23.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.52.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.63% and a return on equity of 13.29%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 4th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.1650. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 4th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.78%.

Brown & Brown Profile

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.