Ethic Inc. Increases Stock Position in Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI

Ethic Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 32.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,647 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 1,633 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $1,636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMI. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at about $227,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Badger Meter by 11.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 878 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in Badger Meter by 46.5% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 2,396 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $456,000 after buying an additional 761 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Badger Meter by 22.7% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,731 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $519,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Badger Meter by 100.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 184 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $230.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird set a $205.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $229.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $208.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.33.

Badger Meter Trading Up 0.5%

BMI stock opened at $187.55 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $180.55 and a 200-day moving average of $208.93. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.17 and a 12 month high of $256.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.90.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.40% and a return on equity of 21.12%. The company had revenue of $235.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.88 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Badger Meter’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 34.04%.

Badger Meter Company Profile

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.