Confluence Investment Management LLC Raises Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 38.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 413,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 114,959 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $32,941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 423.1% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the second quarter worth $49,000. Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP purchased a new position in Brown & Brown in the second quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 4,369.2% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on BRO. Barclays decreased their price target on Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Brown & Brown presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.33.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

NYSE BRO opened at $66.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.68 and a 1 year high of $125.68. The company has a market capitalization of $22.66 billion, a PE ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a fifty day moving average of $72.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.97.

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

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 4th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 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.