Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Has $2.14 Million Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lowered its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 34.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,850 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $2,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BRO. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Park Place Capital Corp increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 166.5% in the 4th quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 174.0% in the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First PREMIER Bank bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $91.00 to $101.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.40.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of BRO stock opened at $89.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $88.27 and a 200-day moving average of $82.78. The company has a market cap of $25.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $66.53 and a one year high of $93.75.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 21.09% and a return on equity of 16.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.00%.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In related news, EVP Julie Turpin sold 3,350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.92, for a total transaction of $301,232.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,597 shares in the company, valued at $2,121,842.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 16.43% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc markets and sells insurance products and services in the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services. The Retail segment provides property and casualty, employee benefits insurance products, personal insurance products, specialties insurance products, risk management strategies, loss control survey and analysis, consultancy, and claims processing services.