Hanlon Investment Management Inc. Buys New Shares in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

by · The Markets Daily

Hanlon Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO – Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 7,498 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $777,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BRO. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 267,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,390,000 after buying an additional 6,613 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 276,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,169,000 after purchasing an additional 31,071 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,512,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in Brown & Brown by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 251,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,855,000 after purchasing an additional 27,879 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 6.0% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Brown & Brown stock opened at $105.25 on Tuesday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.13 and a fifty-two week high of $107.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.73. The stock has a market cap of $30.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.82.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.17%.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $250,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,872,802.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Brown & Brown news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total transaction of $250,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,872,802.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total value of $14,071,226.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 16.43% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BRO. Argus started coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.50.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Brown & Brown

About Brown & Brown

(Free Report)

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.

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