Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC Invests $203,000 in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 959 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 2,457.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 179 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In other news, CEO Kenneth Bockhorst sold 16,073 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total transaction of $3,371,151.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 34,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,332,720.14. The trade was a 31.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Karen M. Bauer sold 1,147 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.74, for a total value of $240,571.78. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,076 shares in the company, valued at $1,064,640.24. This trade represents a 18.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,949 shares of company stock worth $4,398,407. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Price Performance

Badger Meter stock opened at $247.20 on Wednesday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1-year low of $162.17 and a 1-year high of $249.65. The stock has a market cap of $7.28 billion, a PE ratio of 58.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $205.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $212.41.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.30 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $220.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

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

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.