Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Bought by CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 181,287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,317 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $18,482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $313,412,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter valued at $198,031,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,940,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,054,493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335,964 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 11,337.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,108,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099,199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at about $71,915,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Brown & Brown from $119.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.50.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BRO opened at $117.17 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.86, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.75. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $80.87 and a 1-year high of $125.68. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $117.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.14.

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

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

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

About Brown & Brown

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.