49,473 Shares in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO Acquired by Copeland Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired 49,473 shares of Brown & Brown, Inc., valued at approximately $5,485,000, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• Analysts have mixed views on Brown & Brown, with ratings ranging from "Buy" to "Hold" and an average target price of $112.08.
• Brown & Brown recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, representing a 0.6% yield, and has a dividend payout ratio of 17.29%.

Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 49,473 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,485,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,501,119 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,794,339,000 after acquiring an additional 560,980 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,940,046 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,609,742,000 after acquiring an additional 38,078 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 1st quarter worth approximately $899,139,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,120,135 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $512,545,000 after acquiring an additional 316,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 6.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,063,741 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $381,129,000 after buying an additional 181,315 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $91.44 per share, with a total value of $91,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 5,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $457,200. This represents a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Paul J. Krump bought 2,678 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $93.31 per share, with a total value of $249,884.18. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 5,353 shares of the company's stock, valued at $499,488.43. The trade was a 100.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on BRO shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $122.00 to $106.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $126.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $120.00 target price (down previously from $125.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $112.08.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BRO opened at $95.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $31.35 billion, a PE ratio of 27.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.79. The firm's fifty day moving average is $94.21 and its 200-day moving average is $105.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 6.72 and a current ratio of 6.72. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52 week low of $89.99 and a 52 week high of $125.68.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 15.10%. Brown & Brown's revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 13th. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.29%.

About Brown & Brown

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BRO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.