National Pension Service Grows Stock Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• National Pension Service increased its Brown & Brown stake by 43% in the fourth quarter, lifting its holdings to 503,604 shares worth about $40.1 million.
• Analysts remain cautious overall on BRO: the stock has an average Hold rating and an average price target of $79.44, even as a few firms cut their targets and one initiated coverage with an outperform rating.
• Brown & Brown reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $1.39 per share on $1.90 billion in revenue, while a company director also bought 2,000 shares in early May.

National Pension Service boosted its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 43.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 503,604 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 151,373 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.15% of Brown & Brown worth $40,137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 423.1% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 36.9% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 735 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BRO. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued a "market outperform" rating for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.44.

Insider Transactions at Brown & Brown

In other news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. purchased 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. This trade represents a 4.38% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 13.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BRO opened at $56.32 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.32. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $53.81 and a one year high of $113.83. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $19.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.11, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.63.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business 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 company earned $1.29 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.22%.

Brown & Brown Company 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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