The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 1,886,289 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its Brown & Brown stake by 92.4%, selling 1,886,289 shares and retaining 155,448 shares valued at about $10.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.01% of the company.
• Brown & Brown’s latest quarterly results slightly missed expectations, with EPS of $1.07 versus $1.08 expected and revenue of $1.65 billion versus $1.71 billion expected. Revenue nevertheless increased 30.4% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.165 per share, equivalent to an annualized $0.66 payout and a 0.9% yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $76.47.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 92.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 155,448 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,886,289 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company's holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $10,137,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,634,847 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,999,497,000 after purchasing an additional 303,955 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Brown & Brown by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,886,395 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,425,546,000 after purchasing an additional 407,006 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Brown & Brown by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,608,720 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,017,847,000 after purchasing an additional 246,172 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,403,814 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,068,284,000 after buying an additional 282,988 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,952,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $631,495,000 after buying an additional 118,225 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Brown & Brown stock opened at $71.80 on Tuesday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.81 and a fifty-two week high of $98.30. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $63.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.11. The stock has a market cap of $24.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.60.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 17.75%.The firm's revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 12th. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Brown & Brown from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered Brown & Brown from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $73.00 price target (up from $65.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Citizens Jmp boosted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $76.47.

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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