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

Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,570,000 shares, a decline 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 currently 6.0 days. Currently, 5.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their target price on Brunswick from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Brunswick in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, B. Riley lowered shares of Brunswick from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $95.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Brunswick presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.54.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Nancy E. Cooper sold 366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.19, for a total value of $29,349.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,969,225.83. This represents a 1.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph W. Mcclanathan sold 4,745 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.14, for a total transaction of $380,264.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 19,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,540,130.52. This represents a 19.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety 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 large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Brunswick by 0.5% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,241,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brunswick by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $465,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brunswick by 3.9% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Brunswick by 21.6% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in Brunswick by 3.0% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 8,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $689,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.34% of the company’s stock.

Brunswick Stock Performance

Brunswick stock traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $64.68. 757,039 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 694,336. Brunswick has a fifty-two week low of $63.08 and a fifty-two week high of $97.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $76.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.09 and a beta of 1.50.

Brunswick Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. Brunswick’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.79%.

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.