Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Takes $1.38 Million Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 13,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,376,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,355,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,482,223,000 after buying an additional 203,105 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,804,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,144,893,000 after buying an additional 86,824 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,915,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,638,000 after buying an additional 28,180 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 24.6% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,489,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $311,979,000 after buying an additional 687,783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 105.1% in the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,068,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $184,930,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059,711 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. StockNews.com cut Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total transaction of $14,071,226.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Brown & Brown news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $250,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at $8,872,802.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was 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 insiders.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

BRO stock opened at $106.02 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $103.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.93. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.06 and a 52-week high of $107.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.62, a PEG ratio of 2.50 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 (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. This is an increase from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 16.00%.

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.