Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 296,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,979 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Brown & Brown worth $20,399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 187.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,491,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $540,728,000 after acquiring an additional 6,186,323 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 658.3% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,975,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $173,617,000 after purchasing an additional 2,583,481 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth about $141,841,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 401.0% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,468,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,646,000 after buying an additional 1,175,211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 95.8% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,604,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,405,000 after buying an additional 784,873 shares during the period. 70.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of Brown & Brown stock traded down $0.65 on Friday, hitting $72.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,727,344 shares, compared to its average volume of 905,109. The company has a market capitalization of $20.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.15 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $71.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 2.78. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.82 and a 1 year high of $74.57.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.08. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 15.19% and a net margin of 18.34%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $997.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 8th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on BRO shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Brown & Brown from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Brown & Brown from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $73.00 to $76.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $77.00 price objective on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on Brown & Brown from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In related news, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada bought 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $65.78 per share, with a total value of $263,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $263,120. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 17.02% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc markets and sells insurance products and services in the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services. The Retail segment provides property and casualty, employee benefits insurance products, personal insurance products, specialties insurance products, risk management strategies, loss control survey and analysis, consultancy, and claims processing services.