Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Lowers Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 24.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,609 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 5,162 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $2,316,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 76.5% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 150 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 62.3% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 185 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Badger Meter during the second quarter valued at $49,000. 89.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMI has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Badger Meter and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Badger Meter from $172.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $112.00 target price (up from $109.00) on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen cut Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Badger Meter from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.00.

Badger Meter Stock Down 0.6%

BMI stock opened at $135.69 on Wednesday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52 week low of $112.09 and a 52 week high of $204.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $140.66.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $220.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $220.59 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 18.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Edward F. Callahan purchased 751 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $135.25 per share, for a total transaction of $101,572.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 1,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $261,979.25. The trade was a 63.32% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter 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.