Giverny Capital Inc. Acquires New Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Giverny Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 294,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $30,076,000. Brown & Brown accounts for approximately 1.1% of Giverny Capital Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 122.7% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 130.7% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 1.4 %

Brown & Brown stock opened at $118.88 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $33.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a fifty day moving average of $116.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.58. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $80.33 and a twelve month high of $125.68.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 EPS 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 17.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on BRO. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $128.00 price target on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $119.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $115.83.

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.