Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC) Short Interest Down 8.7% in December

Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,570,000 shares, a decrease of 8.7% from the November 30th total of 3,910,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 592,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.0 days. Currently, 5.5% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Brunswick Stock Performance

Shares of BC stock traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $64.68. The company had a trading volume of 757,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 694,336. The firm has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a PE ratio of 16.09 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.97. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $76.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.49. Brunswick has a one year low of $63.08 and a one year high of $97.03.

Brunswick Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Brunswick’s payout ratio is 41.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on BC. Citigroup raised their price objective on Brunswick from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. B. Riley cut Brunswick from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Brunswick in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brunswick

In other Brunswick news, Director Nancy E. Cooper sold 366 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.19, for a total value of $29,349.54. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,969,225.83. This represents a 1.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David M. Foulkes sold 23,829 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.22, for a total value of $1,911,562.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 251,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,142,760.68. This represents a 8.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,940 shares of company stock valued at $2,321,176. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Brunswick

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 102,780 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Brunswick by 2.7% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its position in shares of Brunswick by 50.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 683,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,328,000 after buying an additional 228,662 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brunswick by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 233,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,394,000 after acquiring an additional 5,604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in Brunswick by 12.1% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 12,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.34% 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.