Pinebridge Investments LLC Makes New Investment in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Pinebridge Investments LLC bought a new position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 8,499 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $677,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BRO. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 81.1% in the 3rd 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 period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth about $516,837,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,330,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,501,264,000 after acquiring an additional 1,705,570 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 170.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,931,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $181,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 1,679.0% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,204,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $112,953,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136,623 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $59.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.81 and a 1-year high of $111.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $61.40 and its 200 day moving average is $70.20.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for 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 period last year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BRO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price target on Brown & Brown from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued a “market outperform” rating on the stock. Mizuho lowered their price target on Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Brown & Brown from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Brown & Brown news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $57.10 per share, with a total value of $114,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 47,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. This trade represents a 4.38% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 13.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.