Brunswick (NYSE:BC) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

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

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on BC. Seaport Research Partners upgraded Brunswick to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Texas Capital raised Brunswick from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Brunswick from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Wolfe Research set a $90.00 price objective on Brunswick in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Brunswick from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brunswick has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.57.

Brunswick Stock Up 5.1%

NYSE:BC opened at $74.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a PE ratio of -34.94 and a beta of 1.39. Brunswick has a twelve month low of $41.00 and a twelve month high of $90.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company’s 50 day moving average is $81.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.09.

Brunswick (NYSE:BC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 positive return on equity of 12.22% and a negative net margin of 2.56%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.24 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Brunswick will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Brunswick Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Brunswick’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Brunswick’s payout ratio is -83.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brunswick

In related news, VP Christopher F. Dekker sold 4,981 shares of Brunswick stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.38, for a total value of $435,239.78. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David M. Foulkes sold 38,266 shares of Brunswick stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.56, for a total value of $3,312,304.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 271,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,472,388.64. The trade was a 12.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Brunswick

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Brunswick by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,572,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,252,000 after purchasing an additional 78,228 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Brunswick by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,848,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,469,000 after purchasing an additional 98,972 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Brunswick by 56.4% in the third 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 last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Brunswick by 30.6% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its stake in Brunswick by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,866,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,597,000 after buying an additional 14,822 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.34% of the company’s stock.

About Brunswick

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.