Victory Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 253,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 956 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $26,304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 330.4% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 298.5% in the third quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Brown & Brown during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 142.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 65.7% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Argus began coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Barclays initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $108.00 target price for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total transaction of $14,071,226.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 17.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 0.5 %

BRO stock opened at $110.05 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $105.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.99, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.82. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.13 and a fifty-two week high of $114.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.73.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 22.65% and a return on equity of 17.12%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. This is a boost from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.35%.

About Brown & Brown

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.