Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Acquires 7,725 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 312,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,725 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Brown & Brown worth $38,827,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 534.1% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 581.8% during the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 79.5% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on BRO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $126.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Edward Jones began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $138.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.25.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

BRO opened at $104.39 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $29.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $112.61 and a 200 day moving average of $111.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.31 and a fifty-two week high of $125.68.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. Brown & Brown’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.71%.

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.