Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Short Interest Up 22.8% in December

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,160,000 shares, a growth of 22.8% from the November 30th total of 944,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 198,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.8 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Badger Meter

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 6.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 338,198 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $73,866,000 after acquiring an additional 19,848 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Badger Meter by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 337,391 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $62,873,000 after acquiring an additional 22,160 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Badger Meter by 0.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 331,769 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $72,462,000 after purchasing an additional 2,515 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its stake in Badger Meter by 2.8% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 295,027 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $64,437,000 after purchasing an additional 7,967 shares during the period. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 66.4% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 128,651 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $23,974,000 after purchasing an additional 51,318 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Badger Meter from $203.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $216.00.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of BMI traded down $1.14 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $213.11. 54,219 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 181,716. Badger Meter has a 52-week low of $139.50 and a 52-week high of $239.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $217.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.35. The company has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a PE ratio of 52.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.79.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.03). Badger Meter had a net margin of 14.80% and a return on equity of 21.56%. The business had revenue of $208.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.08 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Badger Meter will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.75%.

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.