Bank of America Corp DE Makes New $228.05 Million Investment in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 3.55 million Brown & Brown shares during the second quarter, valued at approximately $228.1 million and representing about 1.06% of the company.
• Brown & Brown reported quarterly EPS of $1.07, slightly below the $1.08 analyst consensus, while revenue reached $1.65 billion and increased 30.4% year over year.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.165, equivalent to $0.66 annually and a 1.0% yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $76.60.

Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,554,971 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $228,051,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 1.06% of Brown & Brown at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BRO. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,418,571,000. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,886,395 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,425,546,000 after acquiring an additional 407,006 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,608,720 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,017,847,000 after acquiring an additional 246,172 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,952,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $631,495,000 after purchasing an additional 118,225 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth about $516,837,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $65.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.78, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.58. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $70.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.79. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.81 and a 12 month high of $96.55.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.71 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 17.75%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were given a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio is 20.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BRO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citizens Jmp raised their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $83.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Brown & Brown from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $76.60.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc is an independent insurance brokerage and risk management company headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida. The company helps businesses, public entities and individuals identify, manage and transfer risk by providing insurance products and related advisory services.

Its offerings include property and casualty insurance, employee benefits, personal insurance, surety products, risk management services and specialty insurance programs. Brown & Brown also operates wholesale brokerage and managing general agency businesses, which provide specialized coverage and market access to retail insurance agents and brokers.

Founded in 1939 by J.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.