Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. Grows Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management boosted its Brown & Brown stake by 132.8% in the fourth quarter, ending with 4.54 million shares worth about $361.7 million. The position now represents 3.1% of the firm’s portfolio and its 9th-largest holding.
• Brown & Brown reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.39 versus estimates of $1.36 and revenue of $1.90 billion versus $1.89 billion expected. Revenue jumped 35.4% year over year.
• The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.165 per share, or $0.66 annually, for a yield of about 1.1%. Analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average price target of $78.44.

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. grew its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 132.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,538,584 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,589,048 shares during the quarter. Brown & Brown accounts for 3.1% of Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.'s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. owned about 1.33% of Brown & Brown worth $361,725,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BRO. Triad Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth $4,314,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,330,892 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,501,264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705,570 shares during the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth $46,226,000. Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 552,994 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $44,074,000 after purchasing an additional 19,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 81.1% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,479,389 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,639,392,000 after purchasing an additional 7,827,992 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 0.0%

Brown & Brown stock opened at $59.96 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $20.32 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.63. 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 $111.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $61.11 and a 200 day moving average of $69.85.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.89 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 17.94%.Brown & Brown's revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio is 21.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BRO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They issued a "market outperform" rating for the company. Bank of America decreased their price target on Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $78.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. acquired 2,000 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 47,621 shares in the company, valued at $2,719,159.10. The trade was a 4.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 13.13% of the company's stock.

Brown & Brown Company 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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