Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Acquires New Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 22,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,459,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BRO. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the first quarter worth $25,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Brown & Brown in the second quarter valued at $35,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 1.7%

Brown & Brown stock opened at $73.35 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The company’s 50-day moving average is $68.25 and its 200-day moving average is $65.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.54 billion, a PE ratio of 23.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.59. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.81 and a fifty-two week high of $97.49.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target (up from $56.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Brown & Brown from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays increased their price target on Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.80.

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.