Graham Capital Management L.P. Reduces Position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Graham Capital Management L.P. decreased its position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,591 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 64 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $337,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 162.5% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 147 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. raised 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 worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Badger Meter during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BMI shares. Maxim Group lifted their price objective on Badger Meter from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Argus set a $240.00 price objective on Badger Meter in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $218.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Badger Meter from $209.00 to $196.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Badger Meter from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 1,165 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total transaction of $247,131.45. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 52,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,162,280.60. The trade was a 2.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 148 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.13, for a total transaction of $31,395.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,980,638.63. The trade was a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Stock Up 0.4%

Badger Meter stock opened at $245.05 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $203.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.93, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 52-week low of $162.17 and a 52-week high of $249.65.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $222.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.39 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.77%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.96%.

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.