Rhumbline Advisers Decreases Stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Rhumbline Advisers lessened its stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 125,291 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 7,079 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Badger Meter were worth $26,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BMI. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 1,016.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 201 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at about $155,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BMI. Maxim Group upped their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $218.75.

Badger Meter Stock Up 0.1 %

BMI opened at $220.35 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.78. Badger Meter, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.87 and a fifty-two week high of $239.11. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $215.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $212.69.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. Research analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is currently 32.15%.

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.