Short Interest in Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC) Drops By 6.3%

Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,740,000 shares, a drop of 6.3% from the October 31st total of 3,990,000 shares. Approximately 5.8% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 566,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.6 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brunswick

In other news, CEO David M. Foulkes sold 23,829 shares of Brunswick stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.22, for a total transaction of $1,911,562.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 251,094 shares in the company, valued at $20,142,760.68. This trade represents a 8.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph W. Mcclanathan sold 4,745 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was 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 directly owns 19,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,540,130.52. The trade was a 19.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 28,940 shares of company stock worth $2,321,176. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brunswick

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Brunswick by 88.0% in the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 2,430,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,903,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137,568 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Brunswick by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,090,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,010,000 after purchasing an additional 452,116 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Brunswick by 1,120.5% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 354,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,725,000 after acquiring an additional 325,574 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in Brunswick by 447.5% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 271,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,772,000 after purchasing an additional 222,062 shares during the period. Finally, Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in Brunswick during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $15,907,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.34% of the company’s stock.

Brunswick Stock Performance

Brunswick stock traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $79.51. 619,457 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 692,702. Brunswick has a 1 year low of $69.05 and a 1 year high of $99.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $81.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.69. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88 and a beta of 1.50.

Brunswick Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. Brunswick’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on BC. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Brunswick in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Brunswick from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, B. Riley cut shares of Brunswick from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $95.00 to $88.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.54.

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.