Brunswick (NYSE:BC) Sets New 52-Week Low – Here’s Why

Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $62.60 and last traded at $62.45, with a volume of 228690 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $64.02.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on BC. Roth Mkm dropped their price objective on shares of Brunswick from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Brunswick from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Brunswick from $95.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. B. Riley upgraded shares of Brunswick to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $90.00 price target on shares of Brunswick in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.62.

Brunswick Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.06 and a beta of 1.54. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $66.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.14.

Brunswick (NYSE:BC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business earned $1.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Brunswick Co. will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brunswick Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. This is a positive change from Brunswick’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. Brunswick’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.42%.

Insider Activity at Brunswick

In related news, Director Nancy E. Cooper sold 433 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,664,949.65. This trade represents a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Brunswick

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BC. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in Brunswick by 323.9% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,114,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,074,000 after buying an additional 851,449 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Brunswick by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,965,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $191,806,000 after buying an additional 488,412 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Brunswick during the fourth quarter worth about $30,097,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Brunswick during the fourth quarter worth about $29,646,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Brunswick by 17.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,090,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,010,000 after buying an additional 452,116 shares during 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.