Pullen Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Pullen Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 17,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,123,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 610,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,744,000 after purchasing an additional 21,643 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 163.0% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 62,498 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,981,000 after buying an additional 38,732 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 3,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 785 shares during the period. AG Campbell Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,732,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 352.8% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 3,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $294,000 after buying an additional 2,875 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on BRO. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Bank of America cut their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Citigroup began coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They issued a “market outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Citizens Jmp initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They set a “market outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.44.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of BRO stock opened at $59.00 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $20.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $60.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.11. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $53.81 and a one year high of $111.10.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 47,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,719,159.10. This represents a 4.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 13.13% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown 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.