Yousif Capital Management LLC Boosts Position in Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI

Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 1.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,018 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 144 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $2,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BMI. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in Badger Meter during the first quarter worth $65,448,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Badger Meter during the first quarter worth $44,715,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Badger Meter by 25.9% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 630,891 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $120,027,000 after purchasing an additional 129,945 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in Badger Meter by 1,451.3% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 134,715 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $25,630,000 after purchasing an additional 126,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Badger Meter by 1,239.4% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 128,961 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $24,535,000 after purchasing an additional 119,333 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. 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 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded Badger Meter from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Badger Meter from $216.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Badger Meter from $284.00 to $264.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Badger Meter from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Badger Meter presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $237.00.

Badger Meter Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:BMI opened at $178.16 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $181.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $208.58. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $162.17 and a 52-week high of $256.08. The company has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.90.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.02). Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 15.53%.The business had revenue of $238.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $235.38 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.