Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI Shares Sold by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can reduced its holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 18.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,318 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 2,859 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $3,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BMI. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Badger Meter by 83.0% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 194 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its position in Badger Meter by 170.5% during the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 165 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Badger Meter during the first quarter worth $67,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Badger Meter in the 2nd quarter valued at $80,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $229.00 target price on Badger Meter and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Badger Meter from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $205.00 price target on shares of Badger Meter and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $208.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.33.

Badger Meter Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of BMI opened at $185.58 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.49, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.94. Badger Meter, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.17 and a fifty-two week high of $256.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $180.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $207.95.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.12% and a net margin of 15.40%.The business had revenue of $235.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $231.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 5th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 34.04%.

Badger Meter 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.