Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Shares in Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 458,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,646,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.69% of Brunswick at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BC. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Brunswick by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,090,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,010,000 after purchasing an additional 452,116 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Brunswick by 1,120.5% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 354,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,725,000 after acquiring an additional 325,574 shares during the period. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. bought a new stake in shares of Brunswick during the 4th quarter valued at $16,400,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in shares of Brunswick by 50.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 683,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,328,000 after acquiring an additional 228,662 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Brunswick by 129.9% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 280,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,514,000 after acquiring an additional 158,493 shares during the period. 99.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Randall S. Altman sold 3,417 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.21, for a total value of $215,988.57. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 26,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,686,632.43. This represents a 11.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Nancy E. Cooper sold 433 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $28,426.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Brunswick Price Performance

Shares of BC opened at $57.66 on Friday. Brunswick Co. has a 12-month low of $54.97 and a 12-month high of $96.65. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of 30.35 and a beta of 1.54.

Brunswick (NYSE:BC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.06. Brunswick had a return on equity of 15.41% and a net margin of 2.48%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Brunswick Co. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brunswick Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This is a boost from Brunswick’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Brunswick’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BC shares. Robert W. Baird set a $90.00 target price on Brunswick in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup cut their target price on Brunswick from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Benchmark cut their target price on 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 target price on Brunswick from $95.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, B. Riley raised Brunswick to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.62.

Brunswick 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.