Fifth Third Bancorp Raises Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $876,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bares Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Optimum Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. SouthState Corp raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 188.6% in the 1st quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 1,129.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter valued at about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BRO shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $122.00 to $106.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Truist Financial set a $120.00 price objective on Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $109.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Brown & Brown from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $104.00 to $101.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.08.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of BRO stock opened at $93.85 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $30.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.80. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $89.99 and a fifty-two week high of $125.68. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $95.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 6.72 and a current ratio of 6.72.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 19.89%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 13th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Paul J. Krump bought 2,678 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $93.31 per share, for a total transaction of $249,884.18. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 5,353 shares in the company, valued at $499,488.43. This trade represents a 100.11% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $91.44 per share, with a total value of $91,440.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $457,200. This trade represents a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 15.59% of the company’s stock.

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.