Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 106,674 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• Tandem Investment Advisors reduced its Brown & Brown stake by 8.3% in the first quarter, selling 106,674 shares and leaving it with 1,185,144 shares valued at about $77.3 million.
• Brown & Brown reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.39 versus $1.36 expected and revenue of $1.90 billion, up 35.4% year over year.
• Analysts remain mixed on the stock: the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $78.62, while recent updates included a Morgan Stanley downgrade and target changes from several other firms.

Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 8.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,185,144 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 106,674 shares during the period. Brown & Brown comprises approximately 3.8% of Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.35% of Brown & Brown worth $77,283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BRO. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 33,444 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,132,000 after buying an additional 9,264 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 5.2% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 11,149 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,387,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 1,824.7% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 53,103 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,888,000 after acquiring an additional 50,344 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Brown & Brown by 27.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 60.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 933 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $69.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $53.81 and a one year high of $104.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.28, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.60. The company's fifty day moving average is $61.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.19.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 17.94%.The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley cut Brown & Brown from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $60.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday, July 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Brown & Brown from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $73.00 target price (up from $65.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $78.62.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In other news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. acquired 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $57.10 per share, with a total value of $114,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 47,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. This represents a 4.38% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 13.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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