Avanza Fonder AB Acquires 6,915 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• Avanza Fonder AB increased its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. by 45.3% during the second quarter, now holding shares worth approximately $2.46 million.
• Brown & Brown recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, resulting in a 0.7% yield based on the annualized rate.
• Analysts have varied opinions on Brown & Brown's stock, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a price target averaging around $112.64.

Avanza Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 45.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,190 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,915 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB's holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $2,460,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BRO. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth $907,000. State of Wyoming raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 964 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new position in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at $4,254,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 671.1% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 49,153 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,015,000 after buying an additional 42,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 36.2% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 4,346 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 1,156 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on BRO. Argus restated a "hold" rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Brown & Brown from $122.00 to $106.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Brown & Brown from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $104.00 to $101.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $120.00 target price on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $112.64.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO traded up $0.89 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $92.62. 3,422,322 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,423,124. The firm has a market cap of $30.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 6.72, a current ratio of 6.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $89.99 and a 1-year high of $125.68. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.26.

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

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada bought 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $91.44 per share, for a total transaction of $91,440.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $457,200. This represents a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Krump acquired 2,678 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $93.31 per share, for a total transaction of $249,884.18. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,353 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $499,488.43. This represents a 100.11% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 15.59% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Brown & Brown Profile

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.