Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Cuts Stock Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE trimmed its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 2.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 44,131 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 1,126 shares during the quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $7,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Alliance bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth $204,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in Badger Meter by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 254,870 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $39,344,000 after acquiring an additional 7,094 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Badger Meter by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 288,004 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $44,459,000 after acquiring an additional 4,766 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,069,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Badger Meter by 88.0% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 26,362 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,070,000 after acquiring an additional 12,339 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Badger Meter Price Performance

BMI stock traded down $1.50 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $184.85. 183,988 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 182,729. The company has a market capitalization of $5.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.78. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $134.06 and a 52-week high of $202.81. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $190.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.39.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its 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. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 20.26% and a net margin of 13.81%. The business had revenue of $196.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 31.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Maxim Group boosted their price objective on Badger Meter from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Badger Meter from $147.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Northcoast Research upgraded Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Badger Meter presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $170.50.

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.