Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Position Raised by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP increased its position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 66.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,481 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,782 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 2,457.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 179 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 261.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 597 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total transaction of $3,371,151.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,961 shares in the company, valued at $7,332,720.14. The trade was a 31.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 2,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.33, for a total transaction of $508,157.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,986,475.67. This represents a 14.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

NYSE BMI opened at $189.36 on Friday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a twelve month low of $151.18 and a twelve month high of $239.11. The stock has a market cap of $5.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.77, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $210.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.51.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 EPS 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.15%.

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.