Courant Investment Management LLC Takes Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Courant Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 116,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,590,000. Brown & Brown comprises 7.4% of Courant Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRO. Triad Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at $4,314,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth about $46,226,000. Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 552,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,074,000 after acquiring an additional 19,503 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 81.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,479,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,639,392,000 after acquiring an additional 7,827,992 shares during the period. Finally, Barr E S & Co. grew its position in Brown & Brown by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. Barr E S & Co. now owns 362,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,905,000 after acquiring an additional 57,971 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In other news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $57.10 per share, with a total value of $114,200.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 47,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. This trade represents a 4.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 13.13% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 4.0%

BRO stock opened at $60.56 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $60.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.81 and a fifty-two week high of $111.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.63.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BRO. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They set a “market outperform” rating on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.44.

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.