Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $81.62.

Several research firms recently issued reports on BC. Citigroup decreased their price target on Brunswick from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird set a $90.00 target price on shares of Brunswick in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Benchmark lowered their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Brunswick from $95.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, B. Riley raised shares of Brunswick to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Brunswick Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE BC opened at $56.59 on Thursday. Brunswick has a 1-year low of $55.40 and a 1-year high of $96.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a 50-day moving average of $64.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.63. The company has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of 29.78 and a beta of 1.54.

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 previous year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Brunswick will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brunswick Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 yield of 3.04%. Brunswick’s payout ratio is currently 90.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $28,426.45. Following the transaction, the director now 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Randall S. Altman sold 3,417 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.21, for a total transaction of $215,988.57. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 26,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,686,632.43. This represents a 11.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Brunswick

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Brunswick in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Financial Perspectives Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Brunswick in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Brunswick in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Brunswick by 1,073.7% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 669 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Brunswick by 669.0% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 969 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares during the last quarter. 99.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Brunswick Company 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.