Suncoast Equity Management Acquires 1,655 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Suncoast Equity Management boosted its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,655 shares during the quarter. Suncoast Equity Management’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $1,633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.5% in the third quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in Brown & Brown by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 29,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,097,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on BRO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One 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, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.17.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BRO opened at $111.69 on Friday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.33 and a 12-month high of $114.15. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $105.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.35. The firm has a market cap of $31.93 billion, a PE ratio of 32.28, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. Equities research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

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

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.