United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Makes New $1.28 Million Investment in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 19,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,279,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BRO. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

NYSE BRO opened at $73.32 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.80. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.81 and a 12-month high of $97.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. Brown & Brown’s quarterly revenue was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BRO shares. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Citizens Jmp raised their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 price target (up from $65.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.