Savant Capital LLC Invests $414,000 in Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI

Savant Capital LLC acquired a new position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,691 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $414,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Badger Meter during the second quarter valued at about $390,000. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the second quarter worth about $221,000. Strs Ohio lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 19.4% during the 2nd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 3,700 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $906,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 3,385 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $829,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the period. Finally, 626 Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $216,000. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BMI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $230.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $229.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $208.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $205.00 price target on Badger Meter and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.33.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

BMI stock opened at $175.67 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $180.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $207.30. Badger Meter, Inc. has a one year low of $162.17 and a one year high of $256.08. The company has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a PE ratio of 37.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.94.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $235.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $231.88 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.40% and a return on equity of 21.12%. Badger Meter’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 34.04%.

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.