Brunswick (NYSE:BC) Price Target Raised to $78.00

Brunswick (NYSE:BC) had its price objective raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $73.00 to $78.00 in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $115.00 price objective on Brunswick and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 target price (up from $79.00) on shares of Brunswick in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $82.00 target price on Brunswick in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Seaport Research Partners upgraded Brunswick to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $90.00 price target on Brunswick in a research note on Monday, January 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.57.

Brunswick Stock Down 1.3%

BC stock opened at $70.67 on Monday. 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 price is $82.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.86. Brunswick has a 52 week low of $41.00 and a 52 week high of $90.25. The company has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.33 and a beta of 1.39.

Brunswick (NYSE:BC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58. Brunswick had a negative net margin of 2.56% and a positive return on equity of 12.22%. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Brunswick will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brunswick Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This is an increase from Brunswick’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Brunswick’s dividend payout ratio is currently -83.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Christopher F. Dekker sold 4,981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.38, for a total value of $435,239.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 39,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,472,481.20. The trade was a 11.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David M. Foulkes sold 38,266 shares of the company’s 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 owned 271,169 shares in the company, valued at $23,472,388.64. This represents a 12.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BC. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Brunswick by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 149,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,024,000 after purchasing an additional 14,395 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brunswick by 133.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 77,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,076,000 after buying an additional 44,228 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Brunswick by 142.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 346,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,659,000 after buying an additional 203,838 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in shares of Brunswick in the first quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Brunswick by 477.0% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 601 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.34% of the company’s stock.

Brunswick Company Profile

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.