Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Trims Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 2.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 139,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,120 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $14,463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 267,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,390,000 after purchasing an additional 6,613 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Brown & Brown by 12.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 276,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,169,000 after acquiring an additional 31,071 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,512,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 251,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,855,000 after purchasing an additional 27,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Brown & Brown stock opened at $111.85 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $31.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.48, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $104.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.27. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.13 and a 12-month high of $114.08.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.12% and a net margin of 22.65%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is an increase from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on BRO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America increased their price target on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.50.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total transaction of $14,071,226.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 17.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Brown & Brown

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.