Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO Position Lifted by Chilton Investment Co. Inc.

Key Points

• Chilton Investment raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 8.7% in Q3 to 1,630,609 shares, making BRO its 10th-largest holding (~3.1% of Chilton) and worth about $152.9 million.
• Large institutions including Vanguard, Capital World Investors, Principal, State Street and Invesco also increased positions, and roughly 71% of Brown & Brown is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• Analysts have a consensus Hold rating with a $90.29 target while BRO trades near $68.29; the company beat Q EPS estimates ($0.93 vs. $0.91) with revenue up 35.7% YoY and pays a $0.66 annualized dividend (~1.0% yield).

Chilton Investment Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 8.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,630,609 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 130,009 shares during the period. Brown & Brown comprises approximately 3.1% of Chilton Investment Co. Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Chilton Investment Co. Inc. owned about 0.48% of Brown & Brown worth $152,935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 4.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,330,892 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,501,264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705,570 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 81.1% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,479,389 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,639,392,000 after buying an additional 7,827,992 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,416,190 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,445,888,000 after buying an additional 1,821,229 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,460,821 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,381,531,000 after buying an additional 1,262,139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,166,370 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $461,925,000 after acquiring an additional 46,235 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on BRO. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $78.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Brown & Brown from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $84.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $90.29.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.9%

BRO stock opened at $68.29 on Friday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.68 and a 1-year high of $125.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $23.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.34, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.67.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.84% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 35.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 4th were paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 4th. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.63%.

About Brown & Brown

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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