Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Reduces Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ trimmed its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 26.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 73,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 25,793 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $6,860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,330,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,501,264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705,570 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,416,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,445,888,000 after buying an additional 1,821,229 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 11.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,460,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,381,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262,139 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 16.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,369,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $813,624,000 after buying an additional 1,050,350 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 1.1% in 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 during the period. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 0.3%

BRO stock opened at $69.46 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $76.65 and a 200-day moving average of $84.46. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.68 and a fifty-two week high of $125.68. The company has a market capitalization of $23.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.71, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.84% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. Brown & Brown’s revenue was up 35.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BRO shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $81.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Brown & Brown from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $80.00 to $73.00 in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.36.

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.