Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO Position Lessened by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group trimmed its Q4 stake in Brown & Brown by 0.3% to 15,362,548 shares (4.50% ownership) valued at $1.224 billion.
• Several analysts have reduced price targets recently and MarketBeat's consensus rating is "Hold" with a $83 consensus target price.
• Brown & Brown topped quarterly estimates with $1.39 EPS vs. $1.36 and revenue of $1.90B (up 35.4% YoY), and announced a $0.165 quarterly dividend (1.1% yield).

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,362,548 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 53,642 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 4.50% of Brown & Brown worth $1,224,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Triad Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth $4,314,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,420,814 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $133,258,000 after acquiring an additional 51,959 shares in the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 69.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,385,214 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $129,919,000 after acquiring an additional 569,037 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,330,892 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,501,264,000 after acquiring an additional 1,705,570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 43.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 48,600 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,558,000 after acquiring an additional 14,678 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Brown & Brown from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Argus raised Brown & Brown to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Brown & Brown from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $83.00.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $57.62 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $19.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.19 and a 12 month high of $113.83.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.89 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 17.94%.Brown & Brown's revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.22%.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc NYSE: BRO is a professional insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm that provides a broad range of property and casualty, employee benefits, personal risk, and specialty insurance products. The company works with commercial, public sector and individual clients to design and place insurance programs, manage claims and loss control, and deliver risk management consulting. Its services also include wholesale brokerage, program administration and other specialty distribution solutions that connect carriers and intermediaries to niche markets.

Brown & Brown operates through a decentralized model of operating units and subsidiaries, enabling local client service with the scale to access national and specialty markets.

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