Castleark Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC)

Castleark Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Brunswick Co. (NYSE:BC - Free Report) by 49.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,790 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,870 shares during the period. Castleark Management LLC's holdings in Brunswick were worth $1,474,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Brunswick by 78.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 118,189 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,907,000 after acquiring an additional 52,024 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd purchased a new position in Brunswick during the fourth quarter worth $323,000. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Brunswick by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,805 shares of the company's stock valued at $440,000 after buying an additional 1,260 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Brunswick by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,892 shares of the company's stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 867 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Brunswick by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,861 shares of the company's stock valued at $638,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. 99.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Randall S. Altman sold 3,417 shares of Brunswick stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.21, for a total transaction of $215,988.57. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 26,683 shares in the company, valued at $1,686,632.43. The trade was a 11.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Brunswick from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Benchmark began coverage on shares of Brunswick in a research report on Monday, April 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $43.00 price objective (down previously from $64.00) on shares of Brunswick in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Brunswick from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Brunswick from $64.00 to $45.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brunswick presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.31.

Brunswick Stock Performance

BC traded up $1.19 on Tuesday, reaching $50.95. 179,679 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 791,319. Brunswick Co. has a fifty-two week low of $41.00 and a fifty-two week high of $87.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 26.82 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The company's 50-day moving average price is $48.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.63.

Brunswick (NYSE:BC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Brunswick had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 15.41%. The firm's revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Brunswick Co. will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brunswick Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. Brunswick's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 142.15%.

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.