Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Decreases Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,294 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $3,089,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BRO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,625,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,949,779,000 after acquiring an additional 5,124,203 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter valued at about $433,740,000. Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the second quarter worth about $171,163,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 11.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,460,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,381,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262,139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 16.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,369,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $813,624,000 after buying an additional 1,050,350 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:BRO opened at $73.87 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $78.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.07. The company has a market cap of $25.22 billion, a PE ratio of 23.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.79. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $70.45 and a fifty-two week high of $125.68.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.84% and a return on equity of 12.93%. Brown & Brown’s revenue was up 35.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. Sell-side 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th will be given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 4th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 20.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BRO has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Brown & Brown from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Citigroup cut Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $84.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.64.

Brown & Brown Company 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.