Prospector Partners LLC Acquires 696 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Prospector Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 285,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 696 shares during the quarter. Brown & Brown makes up approximately 3.2% of Prospector Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $29,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $458,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in Brown & Brown by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in Brown & Brown by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BRO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $128.00 price target on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.67.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of BRO stock opened at $115.01 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $115.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $80.33 and a 12 month high of $125.68. The firm has a market cap of $32.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.24, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. Research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.34%.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc is an insurance agency, wholesale brokerage, insurance program and service organization. It engages in the provision of insurance brokerage services and casualty insurance underwriting services. It operates through the following segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services.