Candriam S.C.A. Increases Stock Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Candriam S.C.A. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 24.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 255,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 50,415 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $26,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Inceptionr LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. Inceptionr LLC now owns 17,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,792,000 after acquiring an additional 4,929 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter valued at about $71,915,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter valued at about $135,000. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 70,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,185,000 after acquiring an additional 961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC now owns 9,032 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $921,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective 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. Bank of America increased their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective 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. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.17.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

NYSE BRO opened at $118.53 on Friday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $80.33 and a 12 month high of $120.61. The stock has a market cap of $33.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.26, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50 day moving average is $107.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 EPS 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 anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is currently 17.34%.

Brown & Brown Company 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.