SG Americas Securities LLC Buys 111,104 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 50.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 332,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 111,104 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC owned 0.10% of Brown & Brown worth $21,664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Maseco LLP bought a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Brown & Brown

In related news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 47,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. This represents a 4.38% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 13.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on BRO. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $81.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on 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, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.44.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

NYSE:BRO opened at $62.03 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.62. The stock has a market cap of $21.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.63. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.81 and a twelve month high of $111.09.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.29 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.22%.

About Brown & Brown

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.