Brendel Financial Advisors LLC Has $3.53 Million Stock Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Brendel Financial Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 34,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,494 shares during the period. Brown & Brown makes up 2.1% of Brendel Financial Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $3,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Studio Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 1.5% in the third quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 4.3% in the third quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 2,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 0.4% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 29,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,097,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.5% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 22,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $103.58 on Wednesday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.23 and a twelve month high of $114.15. 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 company has a market capitalization of $29.62 billion, a PE ratio of 28.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.03.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.74 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 16.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.08.

Brown & Brown 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.