Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI Shares Sold by Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH reduced its position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 51,258 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 14,053 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.17% of Badger Meter worth $12,556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Badger Meter in the second quarter valued at $1,293,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 2,334 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $572,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in Badger Meter by 28.0% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 22,847 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,596,000 after acquiring an additional 4,998 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Badger Meter by 137.5% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,612 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,130,000 after acquiring an additional 2,670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its position in Badger Meter by 7.4% during the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 7,562 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,852,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on BMI shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Badger Meter from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Badger Meter in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $230.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $208.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded Badger Meter from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $205.00 price objective on Badger Meter and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.33.

Badger Meter Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:BMI opened at $169.01 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $206.28. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.17 and a 52 week high of $256.08. The company has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

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

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.