Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Stock Position Lifted by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Alliance acquired a new stake in Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at about $204,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 851.3% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 141,591 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $21,585,000 after buying an additional 126,707 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $1,429,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 33.7% during the third 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 buying an additional 58,941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,230,000. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Badger Meter

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Maxim Group raised their price objective on Badger Meter from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Northcoast Research upgraded Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $147.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.80.

Badger Meter Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Badger Meter stock opened at $191.77 on Wednesday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $134.06 and a 1-year high of $194.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $165.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.82.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $196.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.25 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 13.81%. The business’s revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 23rd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.12%.

About Badger Meter

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.