Verition Fund Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• Verition Fund Management boosted its Brown & Brown stake by 19.6% in the fourth quarter, ending with 928,061 shares valued at about $74 million.
• Brown & Brown reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.39 topping estimates and revenue of $1.90 billion slightly ahead of forecasts; revenue jumped 35.4% year over year.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.165 per share, while analysts currently view the stock cautiously with a Hold consensus and an average target price of $78.44.

Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 19.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 928,061 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 151,794 shares during the period. Brown & Brown accounts for about 0.3% of Verition Fund Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Verition Fund Management LLC owned about 0.27% of Brown & Brown worth $73,966,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Brown & Brown by 38.3% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 33,444 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,132,000 after buying an additional 9,264 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,387,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 1,824.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 50,344 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. bought 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director owned 47,621 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. The trade was a 4.38% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 13.13% of the company's stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE BRO opened at $59.96 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.79. 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 stock has a market cap of $20.32 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.63. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.81 and a twelve month high of $111.10.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BRO. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $81.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They set a "market outperform" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $78.44.

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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