Renaissance Group LLC Sells 24,492 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Renaissance Group LLC reduced its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 250,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 24,492 shares during the period. Renaissance Group LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $23,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 64.2% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 5,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $521,000 after acquiring an additional 2,190 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.1% in the third quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 79,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,433,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the period. C WorldWide Group Holding A S raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 9.9% in the third quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S now owns 23,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,217,000 after purchasing an additional 2,122 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 9.2% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 23,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,160,000 after purchasing an additional 1,937 shares during the period. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 4.4% during the third quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 12,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,129,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays lowered their price target on Brown & Brown from $83.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $84.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Argus upgraded Brown & Brown to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.64.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of BRO stock opened at $73.87 on Friday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $70.45 and a twelve month high of $125.68. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.31. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.79.

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 return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 17.84%.The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th will be given a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 4th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is 20.63%.

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.