Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 48,137 Shares of Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC)

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,020,592 shares of the company’s stock after selling 48,137 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 10.64% of Brunswick worth $454,092,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BC. Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Brunswick during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $203,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Brunswick during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $886,000. AXQ Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Brunswick in the fourth quarter valued at $1,006,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Brunswick by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 285,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,447,000 after purchasing an additional 64,617 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Brunswick by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,462,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,599,000 after purchasing an additional 41,583 shares during the last quarter. 99.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Brunswick

In other Brunswick news, Director Nancy E. Cooper sold 433 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $28,426.45. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,664,949.65. This trade represents a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Randall S. Altman sold 3,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.21, for a total value of $215,988.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 26,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,686,632.43. The trade was a 11.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Brunswick Trading Up 0.2 %

BC stock opened at $53.98 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a PE ratio of 28.41 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 0.63. Brunswick Co. has a 12 month low of $52.12 and a 12 month high of $95.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $61.77 and its 200 day moving average is $71.47.

Brunswick (NYSE:BC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.06. Brunswick had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 15.41%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Brunswick Co. will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Brunswick Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Brunswick’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Brunswick’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on BC shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Brunswick from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. B. Riley upgraded Brunswick to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Roth Mkm decreased their price objective on Brunswick from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Brunswick from $95.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Benchmark decreased their price target on Brunswick from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.62.

About Brunswick

Brunswick Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets recreation products in the United States, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Propulsion, Engine P&A, Navico Group, and Boat. The Propulsion segment provides outboard, sterndrive, inboard engines, propulsion-related controls, rigging, and propellers for boat builders through marine retail dealers under the Mercury, Mercury MerCruiser, Mariner, Mercury Racing, Mercury Diesel, Avator, and Fliteboard brands.