Farringdon Capital Ltd. Acquires New Holdings in Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 4,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Brunswick by 30.7% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 7,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $597,000 after acquiring an additional 1,671 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Brunswick by 78.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 118,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,907,000 after purchasing an additional 52,024 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in Brunswick by 12.1% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 12,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after buying an additional 1,387 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Brunswick by 2.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 233,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,394,000 after purchasing an additional 5,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brunswick by 50.2% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 683,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,328,000 after purchasing an additional 228,662 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Randall S. Altman sold 3,417 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 26,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,686,632.43. This trade represents a 11.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Nancy E. Cooper sold 433 shares of Brunswick 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 25,361 shares in the company, valued at $1,664,949.65. This represents a 1.68 % 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.

Brunswick Price Performance

Brunswick stock opened at $43.74 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $55.20 and a 200-day moving average of $67.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.02 and a beta of 1.42. 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 52 week low of $41.00 and a 52 week high of $87.65.

Brunswick (NYSE:BC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Brunswick Co. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brunswick Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. 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. Brunswick’s payout ratio is 90.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Brunswick from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Brunswick to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Baird R W cut Brunswick from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Brunswick from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $56.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of Brunswick in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brunswick has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.67.

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.