Heck Capital Advisors LLC Takes $39,000 Position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 184 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at about $568,000. Palisades Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Palisades Investment Partners LLC now owns 33,951 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $7,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,868 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 8,220 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,744,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 793.3% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 67,391 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $14,295,000 after purchasing an additional 59,847 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at about $318,000. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Badger Meter news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 2,416 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 14,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,986,475.67. This represents a 14.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total value of $240,571.78. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,076 shares in the company, valued at $1,064,640.24. This represents a 18.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Badger Meter Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of BMI opened at $250.07 on Wednesday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.17 and a 52 week high of $250.41. The company has a market capitalization of $7.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.12, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $210.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $213.42.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.