Commerce Bank Invests $418,000 in Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC)

Commerce Bank bought a new stake in shares of Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $418,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Brunswick by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,757,186 shares of the company's stock valued at $113,655,000 after buying an additional 269,413 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Brunswick by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,462,558 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,599,000 after acquiring an additional 41,583 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Brunswick by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,338,619 shares of the company's stock valued at $86,582,000 after purchasing an additional 59,228 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its holdings in Brunswick by 323.9% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,114,324 shares of the company's stock worth $72,074,000 after purchasing an additional 851,449 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Brunswick by 2.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,075,845 shares of the company's stock worth $90,171,000 after purchasing an additional 28,781 shares in the last quarter. 99.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brunswick Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BC traded down $1.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $46.82. The company had a trading volume of 1,059,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 766,824. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $53.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.53. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.64 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 0.63. Brunswick Co. has a twelve month low of $41.00 and a twelve month high of $87.65.

Brunswick (NYSE:BC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.14 billion. Brunswick had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 15.41%. On average, research analysts predict that Brunswick Co. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Brunswick Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. This is an increase from Brunswick's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Brunswick's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 142.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Brunswick from $64.00 to $45.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson raised shares of Brunswick to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. B. Riley upgraded shares of Brunswick to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Brunswick from $95.00 to $86.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brunswick presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $73.85.

Insider Activity at Brunswick

In other Brunswick news, Director Nancy E. Cooper sold 433 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $28,426.45. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,361 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,664,949.65. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Randall S. Altman sold 3,417 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.