Vest Financial LLC Takes Position in Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI

Vest Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 8,646 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,979,893 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $694,133,000 after purchasing an additional 19,585 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 1.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,462,807 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $358,315,000 after acquiring an additional 20,122 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 20.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 970,219 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $173,262,000 after acquiring an additional 168,053 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 39.2% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 754,402 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $131,592,000 after acquiring an additional 212,448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 89.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 712,650 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $124,293,000 after acquiring an additional 335,953 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Badger Meter

In other Badger Meter news, EVP Robert Wrocklage bought 1,000 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $122.35 per share, with a total value of $122,350.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president owned 23,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,853,324.35. This represents a 4.48% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Richard Htwe bought 1,700 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $116.13 per share, with a total value of $197,421.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president owned 7,603 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $882,936.39. The trade was a 28.80% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders bought 11,578 shares of company stock valued at $1,531,492 and sold 3,989 shares valued at $596,002. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $167.00 price objective on shares of Badger Meter in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $174.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Maxim Group lowered shares of Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Badger Meter from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $197.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.86.

Badger Meter Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of Badger Meter stock opened at $121.16 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50 day moving average is $145.86 and its 200 day moving average is $163.96. Badger Meter, Inc. has a twelve month low of $112.09 and a twelve month high of $256.08.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $220.71 million for the quarter. Badger Meter had a net margin of 14.56% and a return on equity of 18.76%. Sell-side analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is 36.12%.

Badger Meter Company Profile

Badger Meter, founded in 1905 and headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a global leader in flow measurement and control solutions. The company’s core business centers on the design, manufacture and sale of water meters, control valves and related accessories for municipal and industrial water utilities. Over its more than a century of operation, Badger Meter has built a reputation for precision engineering, durability and compliance with international regulatory standards.

The company’s product portfolio includes mechanical and ultrasonic water meters, electromagnetic flow meters for industrial applications, and a range of control valves that help utilities manage pressure and flow in distribution networks.