Martingale Asset Management L P Increases Stock Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Martingale Asset Management L P increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,740 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $2,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BMI. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 4.2% during the second quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Farrow Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Farrow Financial Inc. now owns 20,064 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,739,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its position in Badger Meter by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 1,871 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Argus Investors Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 4.8% during the second quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 2,401 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on BMI. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Badger Meter from $189.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Maxim Group increased their target price on Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Badger Meter presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $214.75.

Badger Meter Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE BMI opened at $216.82 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $215.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $202.82. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.50 and a 52-week high of $230.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.80, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.78.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $208.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.08 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 14.80% and a return on equity of 21.56%. The business’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.