Great Lakes Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,417 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 78 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $725,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BMI. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in Badger Meter by 2,457.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 179 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in Badger Meter during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Badger Meter by 261.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 597 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Badger Meter

In related news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 2,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.33, for a total transaction of $508,157.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,986,475.67. This represents a 14.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total value of $240,571.78. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,076 shares in the company, valued at $1,064,640.24. This represents a 18.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BMI. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Badger Meter from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Maxim Group lifted their target price on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Badger Meter currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $218.75.

Badger Meter Trading Up 1.5 %

BMI opened at $198.09 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.83, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12 month low of $151.18 and a 12 month high of $239.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $211.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.94.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.15%.

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.