Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Purchases 10,250 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 19.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 62,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,250 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $4,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 92,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,352,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 14,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 2,895 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 4,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 6,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $65.22 on Wednesday. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $63.29 and a 52 week high of $125.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.38, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $70.21 and its 200 day moving average is $79.13.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.84% and a return on equity of 12.93%. Brown & Brown’s revenue was up 35.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on BRO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Brown & Brown from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $80.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 price objective (down from $90.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $94.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Brown & Brown to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.33.

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.