Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 23,000 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• Schwartz Investment Counsel increased its Brown & Brown stake by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, buying 23,000 more shares and bringing its total holding to 555,400 shares worth about $44.3 million.
• Brown & Brown beat earnings expectations in its latest quarter, reporting EPS of $1.39 versus the $1.36 consensus, while revenue rose 35.4% year over year to $1.90 billion.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.165 per share, and a director also bought 2,000 shares at $57.10 each; meanwhile, analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average price target of $80.73.

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 555,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 23,000 shares during the quarter. Brown & Brown comprises about 1.5% of Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. owned about 0.16% of Brown & Brown worth $44,265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in Brown & Brown by 423.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Brown & Brown by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 735 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maseco LLP acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth $60,000. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $55.78 on Wednesday. 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 firm's 50-day simple moving average is $65.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.53. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.20 and a twelve month high of $113.83. The firm has a market cap of $18.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.66.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.29 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown's payout ratio is 21.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. bought 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 47,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. The trade was 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. Company insiders own 13.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $80.73.

Brown & Brown 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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