TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Purchases 2,091 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 929.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,316 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 2,091 shares during the quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Badger Meter by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,841,879 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $814,939,000 after purchasing an additional 44,839 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 796,528 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $169,448,000 after purchasing an additional 17,873 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Badger Meter by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 500,946 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $106,261,000 after buying an additional 7,719 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $94,547,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Badger Meter by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 433,169 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $91,884,000 after buying an additional 17,060 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Badger Meter from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Maxim Group boosted their price target on 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 price objective on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $209.00 to $196.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,332,720.14. This represents a 31.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 2,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,986,475.67. This trade represents a 14.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE BMI opened at $216.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.15, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.84. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.17 and a 12 month high of $239.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $197.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $209.81.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $222.21 million during 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 29.96%.

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.