Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Grows Stock Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 8.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 45,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,581 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $4,701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 0.7% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,804,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,144,893,000 after acquiring an additional 86,824 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,915,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,638,000 after purchasing an additional 28,180 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 24.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,489,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $311,979,000 after buying an additional 687,783 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in Brown & Brown by 105.1% during the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,068,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $184,930,000 after buying an additional 1,059,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 8.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,553,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,899,000 after buying an additional 114,688 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 1.3 %

Brown & Brown stock opened at $111.59 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $107.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.07. 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 firm has a market cap of $31.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.82. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.13 and a 52 week high of $114.15.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 22.65% and a return on equity of 17.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is an increase from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is 16.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BRO. StockNews.com lowered Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Argus started coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.42.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

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.