Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Increases Stock Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 79.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 52,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,090 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $4,898,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the second quarter worth $1,109,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.1% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,166,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $461,925,000 after purchasing an additional 46,235 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 30.6% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 760,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,360,000 after purchasing an additional 178,082 shares in the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,432,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the second quarter worth $1,635,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 1.8%

NYSE:BRO opened at $78.82 on Thursday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.17 and a 12-month high of $125.68. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.92. The firm has a market cap of $26.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.60, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were issued a $0.165 dividend. 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. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is presently 19.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BRO shares. Barclays reduced their price target on Brown & Brown from $102.00 to $84.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Citigroup cut Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $97.00 price target (down from $135.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.87.

Brown & Brown 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.