Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Increases Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,768,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,885 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.62% of Brown & Brown worth $180,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Studio Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 1.5% during the third quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $675,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $119.93 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average of $110.53 and a 200 day moving average of $107.41. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.33 and a 12-month high of $121.25. The stock has a market cap of $34.29 billion, a PE ratio of 34.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BRO. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.17.

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.