Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 78,848 Shares of Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC - Free Report) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 996,997 shares of the company's stock after selling 78,848 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.51% of Brunswick worth $64,493,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Brunswick by 17.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,090,078 shares of the company's stock worth $259,010,000 after purchasing an additional 452,116 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Brunswick by 7.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Brunswick by 13.5% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,414,490 shares of the company's stock worth $118,563,000 after purchasing an additional 168,384 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Brunswick by 0.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 701,269 shares of the company's stock worth $58,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its position in shares of Brunswick by 50.2% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 683,943 shares of the company's stock worth $57,328,000 after purchasing an additional 228,662 shares in the last quarter. 99.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Brunswick from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Roth Mkm dropped their price objective on shares of Brunswick from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Brunswick from $95.00 to $86.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Brunswick from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Six investment 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, Brunswick presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.62.

Brunswick Stock Performance

Shares of BC traded down $1.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $62.81. The stock had a trading volume of 510,876 shares, compared to its average volume of 779,103. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.14. Brunswick Co. has a one year low of $62.33 and a one year high of $96.65. The firm has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a PE ratio of 33.06 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Brunswick (NYSE:BC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.24 EPS 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brunswick Co. will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Brunswick Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Brunswick's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Brunswick's payout ratio is presently 88.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Nancy E. Cooper sold 433 shares of Brunswick 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 owns 25,361 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,664,949.65. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.81% of the stock is currently 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.