Vanguard Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC)

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its position in Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,020,592 shares of the company’s stock after selling 48,137 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Brunswick worth $454,092,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Brunswick by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,487,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,705,000 after buying an additional 102,780 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Brunswick by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,462,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,599,000 after purchasing an additional 41,583 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Brunswick by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,075,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,171,000 after purchasing an additional 28,781 shares in the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC grew its position in Brunswick by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,025,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,305,000 after purchasing an additional 100,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Brunswick by 43.3% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 769,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,798,000 after purchasing an additional 232,622 shares in the last quarter. 99.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brunswick Price Performance

Brunswick stock opened at $53.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.41 and a beta of 1.54. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $61.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 1.65. Brunswick Co. has a 1 year low of $52.12 and a 1 year high of $95.38.

Brunswick (NYSE:BC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period last year, the business earned $1.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Brunswick Co. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brunswick Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Brunswick in a report on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Brunswick from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Roth Mkm cut their price objective on shares of Brunswick from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Brunswick from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, B. Riley raised Brunswick to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.62.

Insider Transactions at Brunswick

In other news, Director Nancy E. Cooper sold 433 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $28,426.45. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Randall S. Altman sold 3,417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.21, for a total transaction of $215,988.57. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 26,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,686,632.43. This represents a 11.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Brunswick Profile

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.