Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI Shares Acquired by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 0.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,734 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $2,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Badger Meter by 100.0% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Badger Meter by 83.0% in the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 194 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in Badger Meter in the first quarter valued at $37,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Badger Meter in the first quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Badger Meter in the first quarter valued at $67,000. 89.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BMI has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $230.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $208.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird set a $205.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Badger Meter from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Badger Meter from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Three equities 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 a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $232.00.

Badger Meter Trading Down 5.7%

BMI opened at $176.66 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $180.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $208.63. The firm has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.49, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.90. Badger Meter, Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.17 and a twelve month high of $256.08.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $235.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.88 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The business’s revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. 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%.

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.