Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Raises Stock Position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,221 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $94,547,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in Badger Meter by 5,897.0% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 235,322 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $49,917,000 after purchasing an additional 231,398 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at $20,586,000. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 363,164 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $77,034,000 after purchasing an additional 68,137 shares during the period. Finally, Perpetual Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth about $10,462,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on BMI. Argus set a $240.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $218.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Maxim Group lifted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $209.00 to $196.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.80.

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In related news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total value of $31,395.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,980,638.63. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total transaction of $240,571.78. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,064,640.24. This trade represents a 18.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Badger Meter Stock Performance

BMI stock opened at $230.03 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $198.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $209.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.38, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.84. Badger Meter, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.17 and a fifty-two week high of $239.11.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $222.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $220.39 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.96%.

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.