Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO Shares Acquired by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 7,294.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 221,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 218,119 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $17,622,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BRO. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the second quarter worth $49,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 568 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 2.7%

NYSE:BRO opened at $63.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $21.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.79. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $63.29 and a one year high of $125.68. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.72.

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

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 4th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is 20.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BRO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Brown & Brown from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. UBS Group reaffirmed 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. Bank of America cut their price target on Brown & Brown from $94.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.33.

Brown & Brown Profile

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.