Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Invests $471,000 in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $471,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BRO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,634,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,999,497,000 after purchasing an additional 303,955 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Brown & Brown during the second quarter valued at about $1,418,571,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,886,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,425,546,000 after buying an additional 407,006 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.6% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,608,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,017,847,000 after buying an additional 246,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,403,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,068,284,000 after buying an additional 282,988 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 3.2%

Shares of BRO stock opened at $71.62 on Thursday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.81 and a 12 month high of $98.30. The firm has a market cap of $23.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $67.16 and a 200-day moving average of $65.74. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The firm’s revenue was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were issued a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is 20.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BRO. Mizuho upped their price target on Brown & Brown from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Brown & Brown from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 target price (up from $65.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Brown & Brown from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $70.00 to $79.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.80.

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.