Allstate Corp Invests $1.02 Million in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 10,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,018,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown during the second quarter worth $1,109,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,166,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $461,925,000 after purchasing an additional 46,235 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 30.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 760,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,360,000 after purchasing an additional 178,082 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,635,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,798,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $78.12 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $26.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.39, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.17 and a 12-month high of $125.68. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.84.

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

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 4th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on BRO. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $92.00 to $84.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, November 20th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $97.00 target price (down previously from $135.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Mizuho set a $89.00 price target on Brown & Brown and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.67.

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.