Short Interest in Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC) Drops By 6.3%

Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC) saw a significant drop in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,740,000 shares, a drop of 6.3% from the October 31st total of 3,990,000 shares. Currently, 5.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 566,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.6 days.

Insider Activity at Brunswick

In other Brunswick news, Director Nancy E. Cooper sold 366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.19, for a total value of $29,349.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,969,225.83. This represents a 1.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David M. Foulkes sold 23,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.22, for a total transaction of $1,911,562.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 251,094 shares in the company, valued at $20,142,760.68. This trade represents a 8.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 28,940 shares of company stock valued at $2,321,176. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brunswick

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in Brunswick by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 35,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,431,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Brunswick by 292.5% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 9,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $671,000 after purchasing an additional 6,874 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Brunswick by 12.3% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,456 shares in the last quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Brunswick by 3.3% during the second quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 35,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,591,000 after buying an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brunswick in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $676,000. 99.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brunswick Price Performance

BC traded down $0.44 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $79.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 620,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 464,443. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.69. The company has a market cap of $5.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.77 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Brunswick has a 1 year low of $69.05 and a 1 year high of $99.68.

Brunswick Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. Brunswick’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on BC shares. B. Riley lowered Brunswick from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $88.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Brunswick in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Brunswick from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.54.

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.