Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys New Holdings in Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 458,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,646,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.69% of Brunswick at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FIL Ltd increased its position in shares of Brunswick by 323.9% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,114,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,074,000 after acquiring an additional 851,449 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Brunswick by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 887,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,380,000 after purchasing an additional 49,916 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its position in Brunswick by 1,735.3% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 11,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 10,707 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Brunswick by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 228,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,758,000 after purchasing an additional 28,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Brunswick in the fourth quarter worth about $737,000. 99.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Brunswick

In other Brunswick news, Director Nancy E. Cooper sold 433 shares of Brunswick stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $28,426.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,361 shares in the company, valued at $1,664,949.65. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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 that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.21, for a total value of $215,988.57. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 26,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,686,632.43. This trade represents a 11.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Brunswick from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Roth Mkm reduced their target price on shares of Brunswick from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. B. Riley raised shares of Brunswick to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Brunswick to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Benchmark decreased their price objective on shares of Brunswick from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.67.

Brunswick Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE BC opened at $43.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $55.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.14. Brunswick Co. has a 52-week low of $41.00 and a 52-week high of $87.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.02 and a beta of 1.42.

Brunswick (NYSE:BC) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 15.41% and a net margin of 2.48%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Brunswick Co. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brunswick Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This is a positive change from Brunswick’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. Brunswick’s payout ratio is 90.53%.

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.