National Bank of Canada FI Grows Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 56.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 189,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 68,745 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $19,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 122.7% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 130.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $128.00 price target on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.67.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of BRO opened at $124.46 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $114.85 and its 200 day moving average is $108.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.33 and a 12-month high of $125.68. The company has a market capitalization of $35.59 billion, a PE ratio of 35.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. Research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is currently 17.34%.

Brown & Brown Profile

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.