Global Retirement Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $382,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown during the first quarter worth $899,139,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,625,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,949,779,000 after acquiring an additional 5,124,203 shares during the period. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter valued at about $171,163,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 16.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,369,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $813,624,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Brown & Brown in the first quarter valued at about $72,895,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup lowered Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised Brown & Brown from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 20th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $102.00 to $84.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.69.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.8%

BRO opened at $81.10 on Monday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $76.17 and a 1-year high of $125.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.69 billion, a PE ratio of 24.28, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 6.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $86.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.68.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 18.23% and a return on equity of 13.64%. Brown & Brown’s revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 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 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were paid a $0.165 dividend. This is an increase from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 19.76%.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

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.