Integrated Investment Consultants LLC Boosts Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 610 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $895,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 298.5% in the third quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Brown & Brown in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 130.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the third quarter worth about $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BRO shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Argus started coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.08.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BRO opened at $105.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $30.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.75, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.85. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.23 and a fifty-two week high of $114.15. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.12% and a net margin of 22.65%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. This is an increase from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.35%.

Brown & Brown Profile

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.