Wallace Advisory Group LLC Makes New $265,000 Investment in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Wallace Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Park Place Capital Corp grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 166.5% during the 4th quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 174.0% in the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First PREMIER Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Brown & Brown

In other news, EVP Julie Turpin sold 3,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.92, for a total transaction of $301,232.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,597 shares in the company, valued at $2,121,842.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 16.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BRO. Bank of America upgraded Brown & Brown from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $91.00 to $101.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Brown & Brown from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.40.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BRO opened at $91.16 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $65.98 and a one year high of $93.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.05, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.82.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 16.43% and a net margin of 21.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is currently 16.00%.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc markets and sells insurance products and services in the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services. The Retail segment provides property and casualty, employee benefits insurance products, personal insurance products, specialties insurance products, risk management strategies, loss control survey and analysis, consultancy, and claims processing services.