Mount Lucas Management LP Sells 12,865 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Mount Lucas Management LP lowered its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 45.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 15,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,865 shares during the quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $1,619,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BRO. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 32,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,376,000 after acquiring an additional 1,485 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 6.2% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 779,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,749,000 after purchasing an additional 45,766 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 3rd quarter worth about $381,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 36,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,833,000 after purchasing an additional 2,636 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

BRO opened at $110.05 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.99, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.13 and a 12-month high of $114.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $105.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.98.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 22.65% and a return on equity of 17.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This is a boost 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

BRO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In other news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total value of $14,071,226.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 17.02% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Profile

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.