Insider Buying: Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Director Purchases $114,200.00 in Stock

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $57.10 per share, with a total value of $114,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 47,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,719,159.10. This represents a 4.38% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of NYSE:BRO opened at $56.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.66. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $56.10 and a 1 year high of $113.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.22.

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

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 21.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brown & Brown

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 38.3% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 33,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,132,000 after buying an additional 9,264 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in Brown & Brown by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 11,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,387,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 1,824.7% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 53,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,888,000 after purchasing an additional 50,344 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 27.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC raised its position in Brown & Brown by 60.9% in the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BRO shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $81.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.73.

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.