Rathbones Group PLC Buys 186,251 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Rathbones Group PLC raised its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 23.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 980,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 186,251 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $78,182,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 423.1% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Maseco LLP bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth $60,000. Finally, eCIO Inc. bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth $67,000. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In related news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was purchased 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 13.13% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of BRO opened at $57.42 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.46, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.35. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.81 and a twelve month high of $113.83.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.29 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BRO shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “market outperform” rating for the company. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective (down from $90.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.73.

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.