Candriam S.C.A. Sells 21,414 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Candriam S.C.A. lessened its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 10.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 185,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,414 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $12,123,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BRO. Equitable Trust Co. grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 10,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $711,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 2.7% during the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 130,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,508,000 after acquiring an additional 3,439 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 17.7% during the first quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 3,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Cvfg LLC bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the first quarter worth approximately $1,010,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 249.1% during the first quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 1,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,146 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on BRO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.06.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

NYSE BRO opened at $67.65 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $22.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.60. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.81 and a 12-month high of $108.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.51.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 21.22%.

Insider Transactions at Brown & Brown

In related news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. purchased 2,000 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $57.10 per share, with a total value of $114,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 47,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,719,159.10. This represents a 4.38% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 13.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.