Short Interest in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Drops By 13.3%

Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,910,000 shares, a decline of 13.3% from the October 31st total of 4,510,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,490,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of BRO traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $111.38. 979,863 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,308,668. Brown & Brown has a 1 year low of $69.13 and a 1 year high of $114.15. The stock has a market cap of $31.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $107.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.07.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its 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. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 22.65% and a return on equity of 17.12%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown will post 3.74 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a boost from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on BRO. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.42.

Institutional Trading of Brown & Brown

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 24.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 109,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,565,000 after purchasing an additional 21,574 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.9% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 652.8% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 259,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,854,000 after purchasing an additional 224,772 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the third quarter worth $58,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.4% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 161,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,104,000 after purchasing an additional 6,805 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.