WINTON GROUP Ltd Raises Stock Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 2,469.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 112,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 108,417 shares during the quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $10,580,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 81.4% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 280,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,344,000 after purchasing an additional 126,113 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 31.6% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 22,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,136,000 after buying an additional 5,508 shares during the last quarter. Dundas Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 25.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 633,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $59,420,000 after buying an additional 130,430 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG grew its position in Brown & Brown by 12.7% in the third quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 10,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,227 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:BRO opened at $73.48 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $74.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.68 and a 12-month high of $125.68.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 17.84%.The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. Brown & Brown’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th were paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 4th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is 20.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on BRO shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Brown & Brown from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Mizuho raised Brown & Brown from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, November 20th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Brown & Brown from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Brown & Brown from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.43.

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.