Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Decreases Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lessened its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 26.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 73,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 25,793 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $6,860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 4.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,330,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,501,264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705,570 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,416,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,445,888,000 after buying an additional 1,821,229 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,460,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,381,531,000 after buying an additional 1,262,139 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 16.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,369,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $813,624,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,166,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $461,925,000 after acquiring an additional 46,235 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

NYSE:BRO opened at $69.46 on Friday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $65.68 and a one year high of $125.68. The stock has a market cap of $23.65 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $76.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.46.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BRO shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, November 20th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $81.00 target price (down previously from $90.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays lowered their price target on Brown & Brown from $83.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.36.

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.