Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd Invests $266,000 in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BRO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 16.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,625,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,949,779,000 after acquiring an additional 5,124,203 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 16.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,369,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $813,624,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,350 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new position in Brown & Brown during the 1st quarter valued at about $899,139,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 8.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,120,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $512,545,000 after buying an additional 316,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 6.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,063,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $381,129,000 after buying an additional 181,315 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE:BRO opened at $80.34 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 6.72, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.17 and a 12-month high of $125.68. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.77.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.15. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 18.23%.The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 5th were paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 19.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on BRO. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $97.00 target price (down previously from $135.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $120.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.69.

Brown & Brown Company 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.