Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BRO. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 330.4% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted 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 last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Brown & Brown during the third quarter worth $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 142.3% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on BRO. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective 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. Argus started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Barclays began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 2nd. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total transaction of $14,071,226.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 17.02% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

NYSE:BRO opened at $111.89 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.73. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.13 and a 1 year high of $114.08.

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 company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.35%.

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.