Root Financial Partners LLC Acquires New Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 8,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $541,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BRO. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter worth $1,418,571,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Brown & Brown by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,608,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,017,847,000 after purchasing an additional 246,172 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Brown & Brown in the second quarter valued at $266,941,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 45.2% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,623,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $236,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128,417 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 5.1% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,569,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $232,786,000 after buying an additional 173,320 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BRO shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $77.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, October 12th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 price target (up from $65.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $72.97 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $24.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.11. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $53.81 and a one year high of $89.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $67.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.14.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 13.17%. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 4th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 4th. This is an increase from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.1650. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 20.82%.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc is an insurance brokerage and risk management company headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida. The company helps businesses, public entities, individuals and other organizations identify, manage and transfer risk by arranging insurance coverage and providing related advisory services.

Its operations include retail insurance brokerage, national programs, wholesale brokerage and services. Brown & Brown offers property and casualty insurance, employee benefits, personal insurance, surety and other specialized coverage.