Machina Capital S.A.S. Takes Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 9,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $851,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 423.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Motco purchased a new position in Brown & Brown in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Brown & Brown during the second quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the second quarter worth $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Brown & Brown from $84.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $83.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, November 20th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.64.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

BRO stock opened at $74.03 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $78.83 and a 200-day moving average of $86.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.79. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $70.45 and a 12 month high of $125.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.84% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 4th will be given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 4th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is presently 20.63%.

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.