Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank trimmed its position in shares of Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 130,200 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,800 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Brunswick were worth $8,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Brunswick during the fourth quarter worth about $368,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Brunswick by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 766,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,578,000 after purchasing an additional 109,728 shares in the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brunswick by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,025,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,305,000 after purchasing an additional 100,412 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Brunswick by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,269,000 after buying an additional 14,089 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Brunswick by 7.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,487,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,705,000 after buying an additional 102,780 shares during the period. 99.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BC shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Brunswick from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Brunswick from $95.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Brunswick from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. B. Riley upgraded shares of Brunswick to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $90.00 price target on shares of Brunswick in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.62.

Brunswick Stock Performance

Shares of BC opened at $56.62 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.80 and a beta of 1.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $63.40 and a 200-day moving average of $72.57. Brunswick Co. has a 1 year low of $54.97 and a 1 year high of $96.65. 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 (NYSE:BC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 in the prior year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Brunswick Co. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Brunswick Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This is an increase from Brunswick’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Brunswick’s payout ratio is presently 90.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Randall S. Altman sold 3,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Nancy E. Cooper sold 433 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $28,426.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,664,949.65. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

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.