Simplicity Wealth LLC Makes New Investment in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 10,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $697,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BRO. ICONIQ Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC now owns 2,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 17,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,675,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 6,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 33,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,694,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NYSE:BRO opened at $68.77 on Tuesday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.81 and a 1 year high of $98.30. The company has a market capitalization of $23.01 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $66.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 2.11.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 17.75%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 12th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BRO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Brown & Brown from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Brown & Brown from $69.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley cut Brown & Brown from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.47.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc (NYSE: BRO) is a professional insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm that provides a broad range of property and casualty, employee benefits, personal risk, and specialty insurance products. The company works with commercial, public sector and individual clients to design and place insurance programs, manage claims and loss control, and deliver risk management consulting. Its services also include wholesale brokerage, program administration and other specialty distribution solutions that connect carriers and intermediaries to niche markets.

Brown & Brown operates through a decentralized model of operating units and subsidiaries, enabling local client service with the scale to access national and specialty markets.