Magnetar Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 60,343 Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC)

Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 60,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,903,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in Brunswick by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 7,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $493,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Brunswick by 43.3% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 769,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,798,000 after acquiring an additional 232,622 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Brunswick by 60.0% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 2,043 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Brunswick by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the period. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC acquired a new stake in Brunswick during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $582,000. 99.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brunswick Stock Performance

NYSE:BC opened at $56.38 on Friday. Brunswick Co. has a fifty-two week low of $54.97 and a fifty-two week high of $96.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 29.68 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a fifty day moving average of $63.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 1.65.

Brunswick (NYSE:BC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the business earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Brunswick Co. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brunswick Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 is a positive change from Brunswick’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Brunswick’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.53%.

Insider Transactions at Brunswick

In related news, SVP Randall S. Altman sold 3,417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were 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 owns 26,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,686,632.43. This represents a 11.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Nancy E. Cooper sold 433 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now directly 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Brunswick from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Brunswick from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. B. Riley upgraded shares of Brunswick to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird set a $90.00 target price on shares of Brunswick in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Brunswick from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brunswick currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.62.

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.