Cerity Partners LLC Decreases Stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Cerity Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,094 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 6,283 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC owned 0.15% of Badger Meter worth $9,571,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BMI. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Badger Meter by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 39,142 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $8,549,000 after purchasing an additional 6,732 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 41.3% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,356 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $515,000 after buying an additional 689 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Badger Meter by 1.1% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,312 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 11,971 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after acquiring an additional 2,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its holdings in Badger Meter by 51.7% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 1,723 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 587 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BMI shares. Maxim Group upped their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Badger Meter in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $251.00 target price for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.20.

Badger Meter Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of BMI stock opened at $182.04 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.03, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50 day moving average of $201.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $211.29. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52 week low of $151.18 and a 52 week high of $239.11.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. Analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 2,416 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.33, for a total value 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 represents a 14.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 34,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,332,720.14. This represents a 31.49 % 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 valued at $4,398,407 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.