Fifth Third Bancorp Boosts Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 472.9% in the first quarter, ending with 65,788 shares valued at about $4.29 million.
• Brown & Brown reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, posting $1.39 EPS versus the $1.36 estimate and revenue of $1.90 billion, up 35.4% year over year.
• The company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.165 per share, equal to an annualized yield of 1.0%, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with a target price of $78.62.

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 472.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,788 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 54,305 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $4,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $69.29 on Friday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $61.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.19. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.81 and a 1 year high of $104.97. The firm has a market cap of $23.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.28, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 17.94%.The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. The business's revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.22%.

Insider Transactions at Brown & Brown

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $73.00 price target (up from $65.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Brown & Brown from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Brown & Brown from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $78.62.

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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