Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 157.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,111 shares during the period. Brown & Brown makes up about 1.1% of Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $1,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 1.6% in the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 18,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,950,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 5,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 3rd quarter worth $211,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 12.1% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 82,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,541,000 after buying an additional 8,940 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 45.6% in the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 7,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $827,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on BRO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $128.00 target price on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.67.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $115.01 on Friday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.33 and a fifty-two week high of $125.68. The company has a market cap of $32.89 billion, a PE ratio of 33.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.97.

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

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is currently 17.34%.

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.