Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 127,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,755 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $13,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BRO. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $198,031,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 11,337.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,108,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099,199 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $71,915,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 258.0% during the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 646,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,985,000 after purchasing an additional 465,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,466,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,537,000 after purchasing an additional 371,980 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 0.3 %

BRO stock opened at $118.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $33.80 billion, a PE ratio of 34.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $109.45 and its 200 day moving average is $107.04. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $80.33 and a one year high of $121.25.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. On average, research analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BRO. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.17.

Brown & Brown Company 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.