Balefire LLC Invests $500,000 in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Balefire LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 7,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $500,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 33,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,132,000 after buying an additional 9,264 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 5.2% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 11,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,387,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 1,824.7% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 53,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,888,000 after acquiring an additional 50,344 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 27.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 60.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In related news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 47,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. The trade was a 4.38% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 13.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut Brown & Brown from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Citizens Jmp increased their target price on Brown & Brown from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Barclays raised their target price on Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Brown & Brown from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Brown & Brown from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.62.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $68.97 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The business has a 50-day moving average of $61.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.01. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.81 and a 1 year high of $104.25.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.22%.

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.