Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,796,229 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 45,650 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 12.89% of Badger Meter worth $722,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BMI. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in Badger Meter in the first quarter valued at $65,448,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 21,179.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 167,040 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $31,779,000 after acquiring an additional 166,255 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 184.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 256,217 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $54,350,000 after acquiring an additional 166,191 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth about $20,586,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 111.1% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 182,382 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $38,687,000 after acquiring an additional 95,966 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Argus set a $240.00 price target on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $224.00 price target on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $284.00 to $264.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Badger Meter has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.40.

Badger Meter Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of BMI opened at $192.46 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $226.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $217.24. Badger Meter, Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.17 and a twelve month high of $256.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.93, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.84.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.02). Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 15.53%. The company had revenue of $238.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $235.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is currently 29.63%.

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.