Insider Selling: Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) CEO Sells 16,073 Shares of Stock

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total value of $3,371,151.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 34,961 shares in the company, valued at $7,332,720.14. This represents a 31.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Kenneth Bockhorst also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 3rd, Kenneth Bockhorst sold 1,165 shares of Badger Meter stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total value of $247,131.45.

Badger Meter Stock Up 1.7 %

BMI traded up $3.55 during trading on Friday, reaching $212.68. The company had a trading volume of 235,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 216,508. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.87 and a 52 week high of $239.11. The stock has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.28, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $213.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.81.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BMI. Burney Co. purchased a new stake in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at about $385,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 68.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 33,395 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $7,083,000 after purchasing an additional 13,526 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in Badger Meter by 29.0% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 11,971 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 2,692 shares during the period. Fortress Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at $369,000. Finally, Perpetual Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at about $10,462,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Maxim Group lifted their price objective on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $218.75.

Badger Meter Company 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.