Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stake in Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 996,997 shares of the company’s stock after selling 78,848 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Brunswick were worth $64,493,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Brunswick in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Brunswick by 1,073.7% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Brunswick by 669.0% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 969 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 843 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in Brunswick by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Brunswick by 21.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. 99.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Nancy E. Cooper sold 433 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $28,426.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Brunswick Price Performance

Brunswick stock opened at $64.64 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.31. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $62.64 and a 1 year high of $96.65. The company has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.02 and a beta of 1.54.

Brunswick (NYSE:BC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.06. Brunswick had a return on equity of 15.41% and a net margin of 2.48%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Brunswick Co. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Brunswick Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This is a positive change from Brunswick’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. Brunswick’s dividend payout ratio is 88.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BC has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Brunswick from $95.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Benchmark reduced their target price on shares of Brunswick from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Brunswick from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Brunswick from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Brunswick from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Brunswick presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.85.

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.