Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. Has $11.80 Million Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. decreased its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 113,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 323 shares during the period. Brown & Brown makes up 2.2% of Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $11,798,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the third quarter valued at about $874,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 253,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,304,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the third quarter valued at about $548,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 8.8% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 5.5% during the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 109,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,326,000 after acquiring an additional 5,709 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on BRO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.50.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of Brown & Brown stock traded down $0.39 on Wednesday, reaching $112.03. 86,436 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,314,076. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.13 and a 52 week high of $114.08. The company has a 50 day moving average of $105.04 and a 200 day moving average of $97.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.04 billion, a PE ratio of 30.63, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.82. 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 released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 22.65% and a return on equity of 17.12%. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.35%.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total value of $14,071,226.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 16.43% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Brown & Brown Company 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.