Markel Group Inc. Purchases 1,000 Shares of Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC)

Markel Group Inc. grew its position in Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc.’s holdings in Brunswick were worth $970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Brunswick by 17.1% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,090,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,010,000 after acquiring an additional 452,116 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Brunswick by 7.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,487,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,705,000 after acquiring an additional 102,780 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Brunswick by 13.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,414,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,563,000 after acquiring an additional 168,384 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Brunswick by 2.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,075,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,171,000 after acquiring an additional 28,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Brunswick by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,025,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,305,000 after acquiring an additional 100,412 shares during the last quarter. 99.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Brunswick Price Performance

Brunswick stock opened at $58.82 on Tuesday. Brunswick Co. has a 12 month low of $55.40 and a 12 month high of $96.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $64.90 and its 200-day moving average is $74.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.96 and a beta of 1.54.

Brunswick (NYSE:BC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the business earned $1.45 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Brunswick Co. will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Brunswick Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Brunswick’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Brunswick’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BC. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Brunswick from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Brunswick from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Brunswick from $95.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Brunswick from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Benchmark lowered their price target on Brunswick from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Brunswick presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.62.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $215,988.57. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 26,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,686,632.43. The trade was a 11.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Nancy E. Cooper sold 433 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,361 shares of the company’s stock, 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 company insiders.

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.