Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO Stock Position Boosted by Visualize Group LP

Key Points

• Visualize Group LP increased its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. by 10.7% during the first quarter, making it their second largest investment.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec and Royal Bank of Canada, have also expanded their holdings in Brown & Brown.
• Brown & Brown recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.03, surpassing estimates, along with a 9.1% year-over-year revenue increase.

Visualize Group LP increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 10.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 185,094 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 17,894 shares during the quarter. Brown & Brown comprises 12.4% of Visualize Group LP's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Visualize Group LP owned 0.06% of Brown & Brown worth $23,026,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Brown & Brown by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,501,119 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,794,339,000 after purchasing an additional 560,980 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 0.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,940,046 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,609,742,000 after buying an additional 38,078 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown during the first quarter worth $899,139,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Brown & Brown by 8.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,120,135 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $512,545,000 after acquiring an additional 316,519 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Brown & Brown by 6.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,063,741 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $381,129,000 after acquiring an additional 181,315 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:BRO traded down $0.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $94.72. The stock had a trading volume of 1,378,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,378,295. The company has a current ratio of 6.72, a quick ratio of 6.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.38 and a twelve month high of $125.68. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.16. The company has a market capitalization of $31.24 billion, a PE ratio of 27.30, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.81.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Paul J. Krump acquired 2,678 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $93.31 per share, with a total value of $249,884.18. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 5,353 shares in the company, valued at $499,488.43. This trade represents a 100.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada acquired 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $91.44 per share, for a total transaction of $91,440.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 5,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $457,200. This represents a 25.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BRO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $126.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $122.00 to $106.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Truist Financial set a $120.00 target price on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Argus reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $112.64.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc is an insurance agency, wholesale brokerage, insurance program and service organization. It engages in the provision of insurance brokerage services and casualty insurance underwriting services. It operates through the following segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services.