Parnassus Investments LLC Buys New Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• Parnassus Investments LLC invested approximately $899.14 million in Brown & Brown, acquiring 7,227,805 shares, which represents 2.2% of Parnassus's total holdings.
• Several analysts have recently cut their price targets for Brown & Brown, with a current consensus average target price of $112.64 and a "Hold" rating from the majority of analysts.
• Brown & Brown reported earnings of $1.03 per share for the quarter, surpassing estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, yielding 0.6% annually.

Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,227,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $899,139,000. Brown & Brown comprises 2.2% of Parnassus Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Parnassus Investments LLC owned about 2.52% of Brown & Brown at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,501,119 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,794,339,000 after acquiring an additional 560,980 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,940,046 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,609,742,000 after acquiring an additional 38,078 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,120,135 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $512,545,000 after acquiring an additional 316,519 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,882,426 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $294,065,000 after acquiring an additional 56,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,353,376 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $292,760,000 after acquiring an additional 33,178 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. Argus restated a "hold" rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America raised Brown & Brown from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $126.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Truist Financial set a $120.00 price target on Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Brown & Brown from $104.00 to $87.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $112.64.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BRO traded up $0.80 during trading on Monday, reaching $97.02. 1,755,218 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,796,336. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.38 and a fifty-two week high of $125.68. The company has a quick ratio of 6.72, a current ratio of 6.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $32.00 billion, a PE ratio of 27.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.67.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. Brown & Brown's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 13th. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Paul J. Krump purchased 2,678 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $93.31 per share, with a total value of $249,884.18. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,353 shares in the company, valued at $499,488.43. This represents a 100.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada purchased 1,000 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $91.44 per share, for a total transaction of $91,440.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $457,200. This trade represents a 25.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 15.59% of the company's stock.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc is an insurance agency, wholesale brokerage, insurance program and service organization. It engages in the provision of insurance brokerage services and casualty insurance underwriting services. It operates through the following segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services.