Madison Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• Madison Asset Management acquired 2.16 million Brown & Brown shares worth approximately $138.6 million, making the insurer 1.7% of its portfolio and its 12th-largest holding. Institutional investors collectively own 71.01% of BRO.
• Analysts remain cautious, with Brown & Brown carrying a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $76.80. Ratings include four Buys, thirteen Holds, and two Sells.
• Brown & Brown reported quarterly revenue of $1.65 billion, up 30.4% year over year, but slightly missed earnings and revenue estimates. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.165, equivalent to a 0.9% annual yield.

Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,161,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $138,630,000. Brown & Brown accounts for about 1.7% of Madison Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Madison Asset Management LLC owned about 0.65% of Brown & Brown at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,418,571,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $516,837,000. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $371,654,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Brown & Brown in the second quarter valued at approximately $266,941,000. Finally, Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. grew its position in Brown & Brown by 132.8% in the fourth quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 4,538,584 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $361,725,000 after acquiring an additional 2,589,048 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on BRO. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Brown & Brown from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup cut shares of Brown & Brown from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $70.00 to $79.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Truist Financial set a $90.00 price target on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $60.00 price target (up from $56.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Brown & Brown presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $76.80.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 3.2%

NYSE BRO opened at $71.62 on Thursday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.81 and a 52 week high of $98.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $67.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.74. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.59.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 13.17%. Brown & Brown's revenue for the quarter was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.82%.

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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