Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO Shares Bought by Quadrant Capital Group LLC

Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 113.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 65,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,080 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $4,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Brown & Brown in the second quarter worth approximately $1,418,571,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 1.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 246,172 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown during the second quarter worth $266,941,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Brown & Brown by 45.2% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,623,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $236,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128,417 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Brown & Brown by 5.1% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,569,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $232,786,000 after purchasing an additional 173,320 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:BRO opened at $70.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $23.63 billion, a PE ratio of 22.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $67.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.02. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.81 and a 12-month high of $90.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its earnings results 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). Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 4th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.1650. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 4th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BRO. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Monday, October 12th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.00.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc is an insurance brokerage and risk management company headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida. The company helps businesses, public entities, individuals and other organizations identify, manage and transfer risk by arranging insurance coverage and providing related advisory services.

Its operations include retail insurance brokerage, national programs, wholesale brokerage and services. Brown & Brown offers property and casualty insurance, employee benefits, personal insurance, surety and other specialized coverage.