Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 18,869 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 53.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 54,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,869 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $5,620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BRO. Studio Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 0.5% in the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 20,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 4.3% during the third quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 2,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 29,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,097,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 22,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BRO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com lowered Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.42.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 0.2 %

BRO stock opened at $113.20 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $106.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.82. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.13 and a 12 month high of $114.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.12% and a net margin of 22.65%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. Brown & Brown’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is presently 16.35%.

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.