Boston Trust Walden Corp Acquires 17,881 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 20.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 104,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,881 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $6,793,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BRO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup began coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They set a “market outperform” rating for the company. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Brown & Brown from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Brown & Brown from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Brown & Brown from $81.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.25.

Insider Activity

In other Brown & Brown news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $57.10 per share, with a total value of $114,200.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 47,621 shares in the company, valued at $2,719,159.10. This trade represents a 4.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 13.13% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $69.87 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $23.68 billion, a PE ratio of 22.47, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.60. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.81 and a 12 month high of $108.75.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 17.94%.The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is currently 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.