Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Cuts Stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lowered its stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 7.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 62,253 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 4,701 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned about 0.21% of Badger Meter worth $13,597,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 40.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 575 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN purchased a new position in Badger Meter in the second quarter valued at $220,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Badger Meter by 472.6% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 18,203 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,392,000 after buying an additional 15,024 shares during the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 35.1% during the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,474 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Badger Meter by 100.3% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 64,459 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $12,012,000 after buying an additional 32,278 shares during the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Badger Meter Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:BMI opened at $224.38 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.60 billion, a PE ratio of 55.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.79. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.50 and a 52-week high of $230.76. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $216.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $203.72.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its 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 business 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%. The business’s revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 33.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BMI shares. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Badger Meter from $184.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $189.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Maxim Group upped their target price 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $214.75.

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.