Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO Holdings Boosted by Balefire LLC

Balefire LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 427.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 50,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,592 shares during the quarter. Balefire LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $3,344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 50.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 43,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,627,000 after purchasing an additional 14,410 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 775.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 67,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,554,000 after purchasing an additional 60,234 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 1,424.5% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 40,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,734,000 after purchasing an additional 37,921 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 228.1% in the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 2,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $182,000 after purchasing an additional 1,921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 173.3% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 5,432 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:BRO traded down $0.87 during trading on Friday, hitting $62.88. The stock had a trading volume of 1,637,368 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,965,977. The company has a market capitalization of $21.04 billion, a PE ratio of 19.84, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $67.89 and its 200 day moving average is $64.90. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.81 and a 12 month high of $96.13.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were given a $0.1650 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $83.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Friday, June 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.62.

Brown & Brown Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc is an independent insurance brokerage, risk management and employee benefits firm headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida. The company helps businesses, public entities and individuals identify, manage and transfer risk through insurance placement, risk consulting and related services.

Its offerings include property and casualty insurance, employee benefits, personal insurance, surety products, risk management services and specialized insurance programs. Brown & Brown also operates wholesale brokerage businesses that provide coverage solutions and access to insurance markets for retail agents and brokers, including products designed for specialty and hard-to-place risks.

Founded in 1939 by J.