Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Cuts Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 49.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 278,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 273,807 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $28,408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BRO. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Brown & Brown during the 2nd quarter valued at about $530,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 14.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 16,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,476,000 after purchasing an additional 2,123 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 35.6% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 738,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,069,000 after purchasing an additional 194,031 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 8.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,553,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $138,899,000 after purchasing an additional 114,688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $17,241,000. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $105.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $30.29 billion, a PE ratio of 28.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.85. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.23 and a 1 year high of $114.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $106.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $103.06. 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 (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.12% and a net margin of 22.65%. Brown & Brown’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.74 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 paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. This is an increase from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BRO. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 2nd. Argus began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.08.

Brown & Brown 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.