Dorsey Wright & Associates Buys 1,259 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Dorsey Wright & Associates grew its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,259 shares during the period. Dorsey Wright & Associates’ holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $3,482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RWA Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth $609,000. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 18,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,897,000 after buying an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 395.6% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 34,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,489,000 after buying an additional 27,297 shares during the period. Intrust Bank NA raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 3,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at about $789,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on BRO shares. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $128.00 price target on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.67.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 0.1 %

BRO stock opened at $122.97 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.16 billion, a PE ratio of 35.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.33 and a 52 week high of $123.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $113.33 and a 200 day moving average of $108.31.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 17.34%.

About Brown & Brown

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.