Farringdon Capital Ltd. Takes $508,000 Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. acquired a new position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $508,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 324.3% during the fourth quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 19,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,967,000 after purchasing an additional 14,740 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 395.6% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 34,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,489,000 after acquiring an additional 27,297 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 56.8% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 189,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,365,000 after acquiring an additional 68,745 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,356,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,394,000 after purchasing an additional 40,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 304,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,055,000 after purchasing an additional 50,510 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE BRO opened at $117.17 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $80.87 and a 12 month high of $125.68. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $117.11 and its 200 day moving average is $109.89. The stock has a market cap of $33.50 billion, a PE ratio of 33.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.75.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. Research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 17.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $128.00 target price on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $119.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.50.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc is an insurance agency, wholesale brokerage, insurance program and service organization. It engages in the provision of insurance brokerage services and casualty insurance underwriting services. It operates through the following segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services.