Brunswick (NYSE:BC) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Shares of Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC) reached a new 52-week low on Friday . The company traded as low as $53.69 and last traded at $53.81, with a volume of 136415 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $55.99.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Brunswick from $95.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Brunswick from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Brunswick from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Brunswick from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, B. Riley upgraded Brunswick to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.62.

Brunswick Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 1.65. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.01. The firm has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.27 and a beta of 1.54.

Brunswick (NYSE:BC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Brunswick Co. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Brunswick Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. 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 payout ratio is currently 90.53%.

Insider Activity at Brunswick

In other Brunswick news, SVP Randall S. Altman sold 3,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 11.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Nancy E. Cooper sold 433 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now owns 25,361 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,664,949.65. This trade represents a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BC. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brunswick by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 701,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,780,000 after acquiring an additional 1,765 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its position in Brunswick by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 5,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $466,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Brunswick by 8.5% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 43,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,685,000 after purchasing an additional 3,399 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its position in shares of Brunswick by 6.6% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 36,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,096,000 after buying an additional 2,296 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Brunswick by 134.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 3,850 shares during the last quarter. 99.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.