Wall Street brokerages forecast that Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR) will post $544.53 million in sales for the current fiscal quarter, Zacks Investment Research reports. Four analysts have provided estimates for Bruker’s earnings, with estimates ranging from $542.30 million to $546.81 million. Bruker reported sales of $530.50 million during the same quarter last year, which indicates a positive year-over-year growth rate of 2.6%. The company is expected to issue its next earnings report on Thursday, February 14th.

On average, analysts expect that Bruker will report full-year sales of $1.89 billion for the current financial year, with estimates ranging from $1.88 billion to $1.89 billion. For the next year, analysts expect that the firm will report sales of $1.96 billion, with estimates ranging from $1.95 billion to $1.97 billion. Zacks’ sales averages are an average based on a survey of research firms that follow Bruker.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 1st. The medical research company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $466.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $451.88 million. Bruker had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 27.46%. Bruker’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS.

BRKR has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Bruker in a research report on Tuesday, October 9th. They set a “sell” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Bruker from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Bruker from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $32.00 in a report on Thursday, September 20th. ValuEngine upgraded Bruker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BidaskClub raised Bruker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.57.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BRKR. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Bruker during the second quarter worth $101,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bruker during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Bruker in the 3rd quarter worth $210,000. GAM Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Bruker during the 3rd quarter valued at about $211,000. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new position in Bruker in the third quarter valued at about $248,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.85% of the company’s stock.

Shares of BRKR traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $34.20. 861,154 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 930,492. Bruker has a 1 year low of $26.10 and a 1 year high of $36.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.26, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.04 per share. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 30th. Bruker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.22%.

About Bruker

Bruker Corporation manufactures and distributes scientific instruments, and analytical and diagnostic solutions in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Bruker Scientific Instruments, and Bruker Energy & Supercon Technologies. It offers life science tools based on magnetic resonance technology; life science mass spectrometry and ion mobility spectrometry systems; infrared spectroscopy and radiological/nuclear detectors for chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive detection in emergency response, homeland security, and defense applications; and research, analytical, and process analysis instruments and solutions based on infrared and Raman molecular spectroscopy technologies.

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