Garde Capital Inc. Takes Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $46,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,940,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,054,493,000 after buying an additional 1,335,964 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,099,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $620,737,000 after buying an additional 118,569 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,195,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $428,043,000 after purchasing an additional 566,116 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,803,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $388,045,000 after purchasing an additional 388,411 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth $313,412,000. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BRO shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $122.00 price objective (up from $116.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Edward Jones started coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $127.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $118.85.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $108.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $31.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $111.56 and its 200-day moving average is $110.92. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $88.31 and a one year high of $125.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 2.52.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.77%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.71%.

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.