Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Makes New $58,000 Investment in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $58,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Brown & Brown during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 330.4% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 298.5% during the third quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Brown & Brown in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 65.7% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $102.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $29.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.05, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.84. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.19 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 50 day moving average of $107.76 and a 200 day moving average of $101.59.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.12% and a net margin of 22.65%. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.46.

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.