Giverny Capital Inc. Has $61.57 Million Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Giverny Capital Inc. raised its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 139.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 772,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 450,274 shares during the quarter. Brown & Brown accounts for approximately 2.1% of Giverny Capital Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Giverny Capital Inc. owned 0.23% of Brown & Brown worth $61,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BRO. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 81.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,479,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,639,392,000 after acquiring an additional 7,827,992 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at about $516,837,000. Capital International Investors bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at about $371,654,000. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 132.8% in the 4th quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 4,538,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,725,000 after acquiring an additional 2,589,048 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 4.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,330,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,501,264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705,570 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.44.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.0%

BRO opened at $59.96 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $61.11 and its 200-day moving average is $69.85. The company has a market cap of $20.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.81 and a 1-year high of $111.10.

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

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is presently 21.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

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

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.