Wealth Alliance Makes New $204,000 Investment in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Wealth Alliance bought a new position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,324 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in Badger Meter by 851.3% in the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 141,591 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $21,585,000 after purchasing an additional 126,707 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,934 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,429,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 233,660 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,617,000 after acquiring an additional 58,941 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,230,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 333.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 61,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $9,417,000 after acquiring an additional 46,924 shares during the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.92, for a total transaction of $195,992.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $355,328.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, VP Fred J. Begale sold 1,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.92, for a total transaction of $195,992.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $355,328.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 1,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.23, for a total value of $221,221.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,096,919.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,813 shares of company stock worth $448,167 in the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BMI shares. Maxim Group increased their price objective on Badger Meter from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Northcoast Research raised Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Badger Meter from $147.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com raised Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.50.

Badger Meter Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of BMI stock opened at $176.68 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $157.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $150.56. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12 month low of $126.66 and a 12 month high of $181.00. The company has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.86.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.17. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 19.07% and a net margin of 13.16%. The company had revenue of $196.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.39%.

Badger Meter Profile

Badger Meter, Inc manufactures and markets flow measurement, quality, control, and communication solutions worldwide. It offers mechanical or static water meters, and related radio and software technologies and services to municipal water utilities market. The company also provides flow instrumentation products, including meters, valves, and other sensing instruments to measure and control fluids going through a pipe or pipeline, including water, air, steam, and other liquids and gases to original equipment manufacturers as the primary flow measurement device within a product or system, as well as through manufacturers' representatives.