Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Increases Holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 30.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,904 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 3,284 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $3,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Badger Meter by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 876,519 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $215,464,000 after acquiring an additional 19,340 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 25.9% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 630,891 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $120,027,000 after purchasing an additional 129,945 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its position in Badger Meter by 78.1% during the second quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 612,809 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $150,108,000 after purchasing an additional 268,799 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in Badger Meter by 2.1% in the second quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 407,059 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $99,709,000 after purchasing an additional 8,471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Badger Meter by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 305,039 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $58,034,000 after purchasing an additional 8,345 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BMI. Zacks Research raised Badger Meter from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded 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 objective on Badger Meter and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of 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 report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $229.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.33.

Badger Meter Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of BMI opened at $177.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.80, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.94. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.17 and a 12 month high of $256.08. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $179.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $205.02.

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

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a 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%.

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.