SG Americas Securities LLC Boosts Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 7,294.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 221,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 218,119 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC owned about 0.06% of Brown & Brown worth $17,622,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 423.1% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the second quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 4,369.2% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on BRO shares. Argus upgraded Brown & Brown to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Brown & Brown from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.33.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $63.37 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $70.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.72. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $63.29 and a twelve month high of $125.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.80, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 4th were issued a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 4th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.63%.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

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.