Distillate Capital Partners LLC Makes New $16.35 Million Investment in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Distillate Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 174,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $16,350,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 28,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,681,000 after acquiring an additional 2,904 shares in the last quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 43.5% during the third quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC now owns 10,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $989,000 after purchasing an additional 3,196 shares during the period. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the third quarter valued at $25,220,000. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.1% during the third quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 149,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 77.6% in the 3rd quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 7,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $741,000 after purchasing an additional 3,453 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Argus raised shares of Brown & Brown to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $80.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective (down from $90.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.29.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:BRO opened at $68.29 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $73.46 and its 200-day moving average is $81.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.68 and a 12 month high of $125.68. The firm has a market cap of $23.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th were given a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 4th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.63%.

Brown & Brown 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.