Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 246,172 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 1.6% in the first quarter, buying 246,172 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 15.6 million shares worth about $1.02 billion.
• Other institutional investors also added to positions, and hedge funds and other institutions now own 71.01% of Brown & Brown’s stock. Insider ownership stands at 13.13%.
• Brown & Brown reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.39 versus $1.36 expected and revenue of $1.90 billion, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average price target of $78.62.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,608,720 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 246,172 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 4.61% of Brown & Brown worth $1,017,847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on BRO. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $73.00 price target (up from $65.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $69.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings cut Brown & Brown from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Brown & Brown from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $78.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 $2,719,159.10. This trade represents a 4.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 13.13% of the company's stock.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 2.3%

NYSE:BRO opened at $69.25 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $23.47 billion, a PE ratio of 22.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.81 and a 12 month high of $108.23. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.44.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.22%.

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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