Bank of Montreal Can Purchases 10,679 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 377,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,679 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $38,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Brown & Brown in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 330.4% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 65.7% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 142.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

BRO opened at $113.20 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $106.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.73. The firm has a market cap of $32.37 billion, a PE ratio of 30.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.82. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.13 and a 1 year high of $114.15.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.12% and a net margin of 22.65%. Brown & Brown’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is currently 16.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America lifted their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 2nd. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.42.

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.