Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Stock Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,570,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,504 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.46% of Brown & Brown worth $147,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BRO. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 423.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Brown & Brown during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown during the second quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown during the second quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Brown & Brown by 4,369.2% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, December 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America cut their price target on Brown & Brown from $94.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $81.00 price target (down from $90.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.43.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 3.5%

Shares of BRO stock opened at $68.57 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.43, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.79. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $65.68 and a one year high of $125.68. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $74.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.84% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. Brown & Brown’s quarterly revenue was up 35.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th were given a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 4th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is presently 20.63%.

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.