Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Boston Trust Walden Corp

Boston Trust Walden Corp lessened its position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 243,360 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 6,030 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned about 0.83% of Badger Meter worth $53,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,674,493 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $594,570,000 after purchasing an additional 22,707 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Badger Meter by 15.1% during the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,636 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $4,218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,964 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Badger Meter during the first quarter worth about $4,369,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 33.4% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 11,540 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Badger Meter in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,726,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BMI has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Maxim Group boosted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $204.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $189.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $214.75.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of BMI traded up $0.84 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $202.03. 144,996 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 179,351. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $210.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $196.35. Badger Meter, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.37 and a twelve month high of $230.76.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $208.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.08 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 14.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.1 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. This is an increase from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is 39.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Badger Meter

In related news, VP Kimberly K. Stoll sold 1,097 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $224,885.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $791,505. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.