Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys Shares of 14,900 Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in Brown & Brown, buying 14,900 shares worth about $972,000 in the first quarter.
• Brown & Brown reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.39 beating estimates and revenue of $1.90 billion slightly above expectations; revenue was up 35.4% year over year.
• The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.165 per share, while analysts currently have a consensus rating of Hold with a price target of $78.25.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 14,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $972,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,634,847 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,999,497,000 after acquiring an additional 303,955 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,886,395 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,425,546,000 after acquiring an additional 407,006 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Brown & Brown by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,403,814 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,068,284,000 after purchasing an additional 282,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,952,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $631,495,000 after purchasing an additional 118,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at about $516,837,000. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $69.87 on Monday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.81 and a fifty-two week high of $108.75. The company has a market cap of $23.68 billion, a PE ratio of 22.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 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. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.95.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown's payout ratio is presently 21.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BRO shares. 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 research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup began coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued a "market outperform" rating on the stock. Citizens Jmp began coverage on Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued a "market outperform" rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $81.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $78.25.

Insider Activity

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

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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