Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI Shares Acquired by Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 5.0% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,514 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $1,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BMI. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $227,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 11.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 878 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $167,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the first quarter valued at approximately $369,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 5.4% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,233 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,659,000 after acquiring an additional 991 shares during the period. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the first quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Badger Meter stock opened at $179.89 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $181.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.49. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.17 and a 52 week high of $256.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.90.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by ($0.02). Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 15.53%.The firm had revenue of $238.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $235.38 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. This is a positive change from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on BMI. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $216.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $284.00 to $264.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $224.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Badger Meter from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $237.00.

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.