Copeland Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Brunswick Corporation $BC

Key Points

• Copeland Capital trimmed its stake in Brunswick by 5.4% in Q4 to 906,647 shares (about $67.3M), making BC 1.5% of the fund’s portfolio and its 14th-largest holding.
• Quarterly results: Brunswick reported EPS of $0.58 (in line) and revenue of $1.33B (beat $1.21B estimate), with revenue up 15.5% year-over-year, and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.44 ($1.76 annualized, ~2.2% yield).
• Insider selling: CEO David M. Foulkes sold 38,266 shares for roughly $3.31M (a 12.37% reduction in his ownership) and a VP also sold shares, leaving corporate insiders with about 0.99% ownership.

Copeland Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Brunswick Corporation (NYSE:BC - Free Report) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 906,647 shares of the company's stock after selling 52,219 shares during the period. Brunswick makes up 1.5% of Copeland Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Copeland Capital Management LLC owned 1.39% of Brunswick worth $67,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Brunswick by 72.3% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Brunswick during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in Brunswick during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Brunswick by 50.6% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 494 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Brunswick during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 99.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brunswick Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BC opened at $80.02 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $77.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of -37.75 and a beta of 1.38. Brunswick Corporation has a 1 year low of $44.30 and a 1 year high of $90.25.

Brunswick (NYSE:BC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58. The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.21 billion. Brunswick had a negative net margin of 2.56% and a positive return on equity of 12.22%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Brunswick Corporation will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brunswick Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from Brunswick's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. Brunswick's dividend payout ratio is currently -83.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David M. Foulkes sold 38,266 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.56, for a total value of $3,312,304.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 271,169 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,472,388.64. This represents a 12.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher F. Dekker sold 4,981 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.38, for a total transaction of $435,239.78. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 39,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,472,481.20. This trade represents a 11.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on BC. Texas Capital raised shares of Brunswick from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Brunswick from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Brunswick from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $115.00 target price on shares of Brunswick and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Brunswick from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $84.57.

About Brunswick

Founded in 1845 by John Moses Brunswick, Brunswick Corporation is a global leader in recreation products. Headquartered in Mettawa, Illinois, the company has evolved from its origins as a billiard table manufacturer into a diversified supplier of leisure equipment, serving both consumer and commercial markets around the world.

Brunswick operates through two primary segments: Marine and Bowling & Billiards. In its Marine segment, the company designs, manufactures and distributes recreational boats, outboard engines and aftermarket parts under recognized brands such as Sea Ray, Bayliner and Mercury Marine.

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