MQS Management LLC Makes New Investment in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 8,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $874,000. Brown & Brown accounts for about 0.5% of MQS Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 2nd. Bank of America raised their target price on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays started coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Argus started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Brown & Brown has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.50.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total transaction of $14,071,226.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 16.43% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $112.41 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $32.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.82. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.13 and a 12-month high of $114.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $105.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.49.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 22.65% and a return on equity of 17.12%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. Brown & Brown’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.73 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is 16.35%.

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.