Natixis Raises Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Natixis boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 220.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 62,032 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,677 shares during the period. Natixis’ holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $5,430,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,355,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,482,223,000 after purchasing an additional 203,105 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,718,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,113,347,000 after acquiring an additional 392,250 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,236,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $372,360,000 after acquiring an additional 29,514 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at about $217,663,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 76.2% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,000,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,236,000 after acquiring an additional 865,082 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Brown & Brown stock opened at $98.05 on Friday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $66.73 and a 1 year high of $99.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $90.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.17. The company has a market cap of $27.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.98, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.35.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.05. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. Brown & Brown’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 16.00%.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, EVP Julie Turpin sold 3,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.92, for a total transaction of $301,232.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,597 shares in the company, valued at $2,121,842.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 17.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $104.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America raised shares of Brown & Brown from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $91.00 to $101.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Brown & Brown from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.40.

Brown & Brown Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc markets and sells insurance products and services in the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services. The Retail segment provides property and casualty, employee benefits insurance products, personal insurance products, specialties insurance products, risk management strategies, loss control survey and analysis, consultancy, and claims processing services.