Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO Holdings Lowered by Hantz Financial Services Inc.

Hantz Financial Services Inc. cut its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 78,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,585 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $7,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BRO. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Motco bought a new position in Brown & Brown during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the second quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN bought a new stake in Brown & Brown in the second quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BRO shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Mizuho dropped their price target on Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.64.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 2.9%

NYSE BRO opened at $74.03 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $78.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 1.67. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $70.45 and a twelve month high of $125.68. The stock has a market cap of $25.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

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

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.