Bank of Nova Scotia Has $3.44 Million Stock Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia has reduced its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. by 21.3%, selling 7,469 shares and retaining 27,679 shares valued at approximately $3.44 million.
• Brown & Brown reported a Q2 earnings per share (EPS) of $1.03, exceeding analysts' expectations, and a revenue of $1.29 billion, marking a 9.1% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, with a yield of 0.7% and a payout ratio of 17.29%.

Bank of Nova Scotia lowered its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 21.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,679 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,469 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $3,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth approximately $907,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Brown & Brown by 395.6% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 34,197 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,489,000 after buying an additional 27,297 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 118,797 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,120,000 after buying an additional 9,631 shares in the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth $274,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 96,426 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,837,000 after acquiring an additional 1,875 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BRO shares. Bank of America raised shares of Brown & Brown from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $126.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $104.00 to $87.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Brown & Brown from $127.00 to $104.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $120.00 price target (down previously from $125.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $114.69.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Brown & Brown stock traded up $0.80 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $92.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,129,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,690,286. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $105.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.83. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.38 and a 52 week high of $125.68. The company has a current ratio of 6.72, a quick ratio of 6.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $30.54 billion, a PE ratio of 26.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada acquired 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $91.44 per share, for a total transaction of $91,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $457,200. This represents a 25.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 17.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.