Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI Stake Boosted by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,562 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $1,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its position in shares of Badger Meter by 0.6% in the second quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 8,649 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,119,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Norway Savings Bank boosted its stake in Badger Meter by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 2,775 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $680,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Choreo LLC grew its position in Badger Meter by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 1,361 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Badger Meter by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,039 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Monument Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 0.4% in the second quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 15,588 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,818,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Badger Meter Trading Up 5.8%

BMI stock opened at $177.89 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.24 billion, a PE ratio of 37.85, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.94. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.17 and a 1 year high of $256.08. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $205.66.

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

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BMI. Weiss Ratings downgraded Badger Meter from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Badger Meter from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $208.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird set a $205.00 target price on Badger Meter and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Badger Meter in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $230.00 price target for the company. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Badger Meter presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.33.

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.