Vestcor Inc Boosts Holdings in Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC)

Vestcor Inc raised its stake in shares of Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC) by 207.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,006 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,802 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Brunswick were worth $1,035,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BC. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake 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 worth $259,010,000 after buying an additional 452,116 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake 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 worth $124,705,000 after buying an additional 102,780 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $90,171,000 after buying an additional 28,781 shares in the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $66,305,000 after buying an additional 100,412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Brunswick by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 766,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,578,000 after buying an additional 109,728 shares in the last quarter. 99.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brunswick Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of BC stock opened at $57.66 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.35 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.29. Brunswick Co. has a fifty-two week low of $54.97 and a fifty-two week high of $96.65.

Brunswick (NYSE:BC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.06. Brunswick had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 15.41%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Brunswick Co. will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brunswick Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $90.00 price target on shares of Brunswick in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Roth Mkm cut their price objective on shares of Brunswick from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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 cut their price objective on shares of Brunswick from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Benchmark cut their price objective on shares of Brunswick from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Brunswick news, SVP Randall S. Altman sold 3,417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.21, for a total transaction of $215,988.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 26,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,686,632.43. This represents a 11.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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. 0.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.