Portside Wealth Group LLC Purchases 1,206 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 77.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,773 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares during the quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $528,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth $227,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,204 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. TFG Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 47.7% in the fourth quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 1,954 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter worth $826,000. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

NYSE BMI opened at $249.68 on Thursday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.17 and a fifty-two week high of $256.08. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $217.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $214.63. The stock has a market cap of $7.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.22. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. The business had revenue of $222.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $220.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BMI. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Badger Meter from $218.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Badger Meter from $209.00 to $196.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Argus set a $240.00 target price on Badger Meter in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Badger Meter from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Raymond James began coverage on Badger Meter in a report on Tuesday. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.80.

About Badger Meter

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.