Royal Bank of Canada Grows Stock Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,882,426 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 56,033 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 1.01% of Brown & Brown worth $294,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BRO. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 534.1% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 279 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 122.7% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 294 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Brown & Brown from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Edward Jones initiated coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America upped their price target on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $128.00 price objective on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $116.85.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

BRO traded down $1.52 on Wednesday, reaching $110.93. 2,345,070 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,482,082. The company's 50-day moving average price is $116.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $111.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.79 billion, a PE ratio of 32.06, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.87. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.97 and a fifty-two week high of $125.68.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.01). Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.71%.

About Brown & Brown

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.