Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Shares Purchased by Redwood Investments LLC

Redwood Investments LLC raised its position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 10,432 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Redwood Investments LLC’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $2,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Numerai GP LLC grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 91.2% during the 4th quarter. Numerai GP LLC now owns 1,933 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 922 shares in the last quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 42.2% during the fourth quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP now owns 2,145 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 17,650 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,744,000 after acquiring an additional 3,950 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 251,800 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $53,412,000 after acquiring an additional 10,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 32,827 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $6,964,000 after purchasing an additional 2,642 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BMI shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Badger Meter from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Maxim Group increased their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Argus set a $240.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $218.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Badger Meter from $209.00 to $196.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.80.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Badger Meter stock opened at $241.56 on Thursday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.17 and a 1 year high of $249.65. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $202.50 and its 200-day moving average is $211.19. The company has a market cap of $7.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.11, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $222.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $220.39 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total transaction of $31,395.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,980,638.63. The trade was a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 1,165 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total value of $247,131.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 52,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,162,280.60. This represents a 2.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.