Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. Lowers Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 209 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.4% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 161,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,104,000 after acquiring an additional 6,805 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 3rd quarter worth about $9,832,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Brown & Brown by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,315,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $136,302,000 after purchasing an additional 17,934 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 8.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,553,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $138,899,000 after buying an additional 114,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 48.3% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 235,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,410,000 after acquiring an additional 76,694 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

NYSE:BRO opened at $100.81 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.73. The firm has a market cap of $28.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $107.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $102.56. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $70.89 and a 1-year high of $114.15.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 22.65% and a return on equity of 17.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.74 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BRO. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus initiated coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.46.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc is an insurance agency, wholesale brokerage, insurance program and service organization. It engages in the provision of insurance brokerage services and casualty insurance underwriting services. It operates through the following segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services.