Close Asset Management Ltd Buys 956,877 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Close Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 737.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,086,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 956,877 shares during the period. Brown & Brown comprises approximately 2.3% of Close Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Close Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $101,904,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 423.1% during 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 period. Motco bought a new position in Brown & Brown in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown in the second quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the second quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Bank of America dropped their price objective 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. Citigroup downgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Argus raised shares of Brown & Brown to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Brown & Brown has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.36.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 1.7%

BRO opened at $71.21 on Friday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.68 and a fifty-two week high of $125.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50-day moving average is $75.51 and its 200 day moving average is $83.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

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

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 4th were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 4th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.