Brunswick (NYSE:BC) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Brunswick (NYSE:BC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Brunswick in a report on Monday, January 12th. Texas Capital raised Brunswick from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 target price (up from $79.00) on shares of Brunswick in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $85.00 price target on Brunswick in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $115.00 price target on Brunswick and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.57.

Brunswick Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of BC stock opened at $70.31 on Friday. Brunswick has a 12 month low of $41.00 and a 12 month high of $90.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of -33.17 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $81.88 and a 200-day moving average of $72.96.

Brunswick (NYSE:BC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.58. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. Brunswick had a negative net margin of 2.56% and a positive return on equity of 12.22%. Brunswick’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Brunswick will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Brunswick Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This is a boost from Brunswick’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Brunswick’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -83.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brunswick

In related news, CEO David M. Foulkes sold 38,266 shares of Brunswick stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.56, for a total transaction of $3,312,304.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 271,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,472,388.64. This trade represents a 12.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher F. Dekker sold 4,981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.38, for a total transaction of $435,239.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 39,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,472,481.20. This trade represents a 11.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brunswick

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Brunswick by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,572,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,252,000 after purchasing an additional 78,228 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Brunswick by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,848,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,469,000 after buying an additional 98,972 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Brunswick by 56.4% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,302,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,637,000 after buying an additional 830,451 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Brunswick by 30.6% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,921,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,651,000 after buying an additional 449,943 shares during the period. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its position in shares of Brunswick by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,866,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,597,000 after acquiring an additional 14,822 shares during the last quarter. 99.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brunswick Company Profile

Founded in 1845 by John Moses Brunswick, Brunswick Corporation is a global leader in recreation products. Headquartered in Mettawa, Illinois, the company has evolved from its origins as a billiard table manufacturer into a diversified supplier of leisure equipment, serving both consumer and commercial markets around the world.

Brunswick operates through two primary segments: Marine and Bowling & Billiards. In its Marine segment, the company designs, manufactures and distributes recreational boats, outboard engines and aftermarket parts under recognized brands such as Sea Ray, Bayliner and Mercury Marine.