Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Acquired by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 2.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,293 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 746 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $2,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth about $217,663,000. Congress Asset Management Co. MA bought a new stake in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at about $82,445,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 105.1% during the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,068,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $184,930,000 after buying an additional 1,059,711 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 76.2% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,000,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,236,000 after buying an additional 865,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,598,000. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of BRO stock opened at $103.13 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.42 billion, a PE ratio of 31.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $66.73 and a 1 year high of $106.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $99.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.06.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.05. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. Brown & Brown’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BRO. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Brown & Brown from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $91.00 to $101.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In other news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $250,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at $8,872,802.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total transaction of $250,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,872,802.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total transaction of $14,071,226.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

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.