National Bank of Canada FI Increases Stock Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 85.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 121,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 55,948 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $12,541,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,804,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,144,893,000 after buying an additional 86,824 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 28,180 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position 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 worth $311,979,000 after acquiring an additional 687,783 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 105.1% in the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 1,059,711 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Brown & Brown by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,553,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,899,000 after purchasing an additional 114,688 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 2.6 %

BRO stock opened at $102.94 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $107.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.85. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.13 and a 52 week high of $114.15. The company has a market cap of $29.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.84.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. This is a boost from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased 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. Barclays boosted their target price on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.46.

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.