Insider Selling: Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) VP Sells $20,663.50 in Stock

Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) VP Kimberly Stoll sold 143 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.50, for a total transaction of $20,663.50. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 3,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $509,073.50. The trade was a 3.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Badger Meter Price Performance

NYSE BMI traded up $2.74 on Friday, reaching $147.04. The company had a trading volume of 60,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 403,483. The firm has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.87. Badger Meter, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.14 and a fifty-two week high of $256.08. The business has a 50 day moving average of $159.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $172.68.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.01). Badger Meter had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 15.45%.The company had revenue of $220.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $232.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Badger Meter

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 76.5% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 150 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. bought a new position in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in Badger Meter in the third quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in Badger Meter by 62.3% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 185 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $166.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $191.00 price objective (down from $229.00) on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $232.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays set a $136.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $181.88.

About Badger Meter

Badger Meter, founded in 1905 and headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a global leader in flow measurement and control solutions. The company’s core business centers on the design, manufacture and sale of water meters, control valves and related accessories for municipal and industrial water utilities. Over its more than a century of operation, Badger Meter has built a reputation for precision engineering, durability and compliance with international regulatory standards.

The company’s product portfolio includes mechanical and ultrasonic water meters, electromagnetic flow meters for industrial applications, and a range of control valves that help utilities manage pressure and flow in distribution networks.