AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs Raises Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs raised its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 10.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,986 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the period. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs’ holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $1,218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 104.4% in the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 764,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,130,000 after purchasing an additional 18,677 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,043,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 22.0% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 18,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,314,000 after purchasing an additional 3,351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.9% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 582,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,502,000 after purchasing an additional 5,106 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Brown & Brown news, Director Paul J. Krump acquired 2,678 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $93.31 per share, for a total transaction of $249,884.18. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 5,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $499,488.43. This trade represents a 100.11% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $91.44 per share, for a total transaction of $91,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $457,200. This trade represents a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 17.02% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Brown & Brown stock opened at $88.03 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 6.72 and a current ratio of 6.72. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.79 and a 1 year high of $125.68. The company has a market capitalization of $29.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.79.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on BRO. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $120.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays reduced their price target on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $122.00 to $106.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $126.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.92.

About Brown & Brown

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.