M&T Bank Corp Boosts Stock Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 679.3% in Q4, adding 65,799 shares to hold 75,486 shares valued at about $6.02 million.
• Wall Street sentiment is largely neutral—three analysts rate Buy and fifteen rate Hold, giving a consensus price target of $84.27 while several brokers recently trimmed targets and maintained "hold"/"neutral" ratings.
• Brown & Brown reported Q4 EPS of $0.93 (beat $0.91) and revenue of $1.61 billion (slightly below estimates) with revenue up 35.7% YoY; the stock trades around $65.95 (down 2.4%), well below its 52‑week high of $116.41.

M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 679.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,486 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 65,799 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $6,016,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Davidson Kahn Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. Davidson Kahn Capital Management LLC now owns 33,290 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,653,000 after purchasing an additional 7,822 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 172,518 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,802,000 after purchasing an additional 20,380 shares during the period. Ticino Wealth purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter valued at $644,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter valued at $244,000. Finally, Revisor Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,764 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BRO. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Brown & Brown from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $81.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $84.27.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of BRO stock opened at $65.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.83. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52 week low of $63.29 and a 52 week high of $116.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $68.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.96.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.84% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The business's revenue was up 35.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. Analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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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