Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 14.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,086 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 2,090 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $2,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 162.5% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 147 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 2,457.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 179 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 89.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Badger Meter Price Performance

Shares of BMI stock opened at $245.05 on Friday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 12-month low of $162.17 and a 12-month high of $249.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.75.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 21.77% and a net margin of 15.12%. The business had revenue of $222.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. On average, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Badger Meter news, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,076 shares in the company, valued at $1,064,640.24. This represents a 18.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 1,165 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total value of $247,131.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 52,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,162,280.60. This trade represents a 2.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,949 shares of company stock valued at $4,398,407 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.