Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Grows Stake in Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 758,004 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 74,061 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned approximately 1.15% of Brunswick worth $49,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Brunswick during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Financial Perspectives Inc purchased a new position in Brunswick in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Brunswick by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Brunswick in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Brunswick by 121.7% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,000 after buying an additional 1,809 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.34% of the company’s stock.

Brunswick Trading Down 2.2 %

NYSE:BC opened at $46.82 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.64 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 0.63. Brunswick Co. has a 12-month low of $41.00 and a 12-month high of $87.65.

Brunswick (NYSE:BC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Brunswick had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 15.41%. Equities research analysts predict that Brunswick Co. will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Brunswick Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. 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 142.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Brunswick from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Brunswick from $64.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Roth Mkm lowered their price objective on Brunswick from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Brunswick from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Benchmark decreased 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Brunswick presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.85.

Insider Transactions at Brunswick

In related news, SVP Randall S. Altman sold 3,417 shares of Brunswick stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were 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 in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 transaction of $28,426.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,664,949.65. This represents 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 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.