Howland Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 5,153 Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Howland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 5,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $526,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 298.5% in the third quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 122.7% during the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BRO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 2nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.17.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.8 %

BRO stock opened at $108.64 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $31.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.86. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $78.70 and a 1-year high of $114.15. The business’s 50 day moving average is $104.65 and its 200-day moving average is $104.74.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. Equities analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.34%.

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.