Callahan Advisors LLC Takes $251,000 Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Callahan Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Brown & Brown during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its position in Brown & Brown by 122.7% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 130.7% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:BRO opened at $111.43 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.19. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $80.33 and a 1 year high of $114.15.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays raised their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target 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, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.17.

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.