WCM Investment Management LLC Acquires 148 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 60,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $6,250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BRO. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 298.5% in the 3rd 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 330.4% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 65.7% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In related news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total transaction of $14,071,226.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 17.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

BRO stock opened at $111.85 on Tuesday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.13 and a 1-year high of $114.08. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $104.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.27. The company has a market capitalization of $31.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.48, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.73.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 22.65% and a return on equity of 17.12%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This is a boost from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BRO. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Brown & Brown from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Argus assumed coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. One equities 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.50.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc markets and sells insurance products and services in the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services. The Retail segment provides property and casualty, employee benefits insurance products, personal insurance products, specialties insurance products, risk management strategies, loss control survey and analysis, consultancy, and claims processing services.