Brunswick (NYSE:BC) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC) shares reached a new 52-week low on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $50.43 and last traded at $50.49, with a volume of 335826 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.56.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on BC shares. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Brunswick from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $56.00 price target (down previously from $90.00) on shares of Brunswick in a research note on Friday. Roth Mkm decreased their price objective on Brunswick from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. 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. Finally, DA Davidson cut their target price on Brunswick from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Brunswick presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.00.

Brunswick Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.53 and a beta of 1.54. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.97. 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 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 last year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Brunswick Co. will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Brunswick Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This is a boost from Brunswick’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Brunswick’s payout ratio is 90.53%.

Insider Activity at Brunswick

In other news, 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 sale, the director now owns 25,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,664,949.65. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction of $215,988.57. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 26,683 shares in the company, valued at $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. 0.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brunswick

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BC. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in Brunswick during the 4th quarter worth about $368,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Brunswick by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,462,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,599,000 after buying an additional 41,583 shares during the period. 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 worth $49,578,000 after buying an additional 109,728 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Brunswick in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,827,000. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Brunswick by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,025,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,305,000 after acquiring an additional 100,412 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.34% 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.