Synovus Financial Corp Buys 98 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 4.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,211 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BMI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 6.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 338,198 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $73,866,000 after buying an additional 19,848 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Badger Meter by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 337,391 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $62,873,000 after acquiring an additional 22,160 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Badger Meter by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 331,769 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $72,462,000 after purchasing an additional 2,515 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its position in Badger Meter by 2.8% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 295,027 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $64,437,000 after purchasing an additional 7,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 66.4% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 128,651 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $23,974,000 after purchasing an additional 51,318 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BMI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $203.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Maxim Group lifted their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $216.00.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BMI opened at $227.13 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $217.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $205.18. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.50 and a 52-week high of $239.11. The company has a market capitalization of $6.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.79.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its 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 during 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%. Badger Meter’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. Analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.75%.

Badger Meter Profile

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.