Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $1.32 Billion Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,901,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 94,121 shares during the quarter. Brown & Brown makes up 0.7% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $1,316,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,915,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,638,000 after purchasing an additional 28,180 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 17.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,466,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $255,537,000 after buying an additional 371,980 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,315,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $136,302,000 after buying an additional 17,934 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 42.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,109,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,979,000 after buying an additional 330,661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 6.2% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 779,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $80,749,000 after buying an additional 45,766 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 0.4 %

BRO opened at $110.50 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.73. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.33 and a fifty-two week high of $114.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.60 billion, a PE ratio of 31.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50-day moving average is $104.54 and its 200 day moving average is $105.12.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. As a group, research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.17.

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.