CIBC Asset Management Inc Grows Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• CIBC Asset Management significantly increased its stake in Brown & Brown, boosting holdings by 459.7% in the fourth quarter to 432,392 shares, worth about $34.4 million.
• Brown & Brown’s latest quarter beat expectations, reporting $1.39 EPS versus $1.36 expected and revenue of $1.90 billion, up 35.4% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious overall: the stock has an average "Hold" rating with an average price target of $79.44, while shares recently traded near $55.04 after a 2.7% decline.

CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 459.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 432,392 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 355,132 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc owned about 0.13% of Brown & Brown worth $34,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. ICONIQ Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 5.4% during the second quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC now owns 2,110 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 17,854 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,675,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,147 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Moment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.0% during the third quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 4,632 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.1% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 6,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $638,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They set a "market outperform" rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.44.

Insider Transactions at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. bought 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 47,621 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. This trade represents a 4.38% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 13.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 2.7%

NYSE BRO opened at $55.04 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.65 billion, a PE ratio of 17.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $61.93 and a 200 day moving average of $70.82. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.81 and a 1 year high of $112.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Brown & Brown's payout ratio is currently 21.22%.

Brown & Brown 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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