Cortland Associates Inc. MO Buys 175,188 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• Cortland Associates Inc. MO nearly doubled its Brown & Brown position in the third quarter, purchasing 175,188 additional shares and bringing its total stake to 353,820 shares valued at approximately $21.5 million.
• Institutional ownership remains significant, with institutional investors and hedge funds holding 71.01% of Brown & Brown’s shares. Analyst sentiment is largely neutral, with an average “Hold” rating and a $75.47 price target.
• Brown & Brown reported quarterly EPS of $1.07, slightly below estimates, while revenue rose 7.4% year over year to $1.70 billion. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.18 per share, equivalent to a 1.0% yield.

Cortland Associates Inc. MO lifted its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 98.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 353,820 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 175,188 shares during the quarter. Brown & Brown comprises approximately 3.1% of Cortland Associates Inc. MO's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Cortland Associates Inc. MO owned approximately 0.11% of Brown & Brown worth $21,548,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BRO. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,418,571,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the second quarter valued at $266,941,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the second quarter valued at $228,051,000. Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the second quarter valued at about $138,630,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the second quarter valued at about $88,589,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BRO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Brown & Brown from $79.00 to $76.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Brown & Brown from $69.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 12th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $75.47.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 3.0%

BRO opened at $71.87 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $23.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.77, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company's 50 day moving average is $67.01 and its 200-day moving average is $66.81. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.81 and a 1-year high of $82.57.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.63% and a return on equity of 13.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 4th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 4th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from Brown & Brown's previous quarterly dividend of $0.1650. Brown & Brown's payout ratio is currently 20.89%.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc is an insurance brokerage and risk management company headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida. The company helps businesses, public entities, individuals and other organizations identify, manage and transfer risk by arranging insurance coverage and providing related advisory services.

Its operations include retail insurance brokerage, national programs, wholesale brokerage and services. Brown & Brown offers property and casualty insurance, employee benefits, personal insurance, surety and other specialized coverage.

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