The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Makes New Investment in Badger Meter, Inc. $BMI

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 15,489 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,298,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter during the 4th quarter worth approximately $227,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Badger Meter by 328.0% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,766 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $717,000 after acquiring an additional 2,886 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Badger Meter by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 2,334 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $572,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new stake in Badger Meter in the second quarter worth $200,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Badger Meter by 11.2% in the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 50,225 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $12,303,000 after purchasing an additional 5,041 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $170.00 price target on shares of Badger Meter and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $112.00 price objective (up from $109.00) on shares of Badger Meter in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird set a $167.00 price objective on shares of Badger Meter and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Badger Meter from $172.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Seaport Research Partners set a $160.00 target price on shares of Badger Meter in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.00.

Badger Meter Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of BMI stock opened at $132.54 on Thursday. Badger Meter, Inc. has a twelve month low of $112.09 and a twelve month high of $204.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.65.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $220.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.59 million. Badger Meter had a return on equity of 18.03% and a net margin of 14.27%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Badger Meter Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 28th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a positive change from Badger Meter’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Badger Meter’s payout ratio is 41.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Badger Meter news, VP Edward F. Callahan bought 751 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $135.25 per share, with a total value of $101,572.75. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 1,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $261,979.25. This trade represents a 63.32% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Badger Meter Company Profile

Badger Meter, founded in 1905 and headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a global leader in flow measurement and control solutions. The company’s core business centers on the design, manufacture and sale of water meters, control valves and related accessories for municipal and industrial water utilities. Over its more than a century of operation, Badger Meter has built a reputation for precision engineering, durability and compliance with international regulatory standards.

The company’s product portfolio includes mechanical and ultrasonic water meters, electromagnetic flow meters for industrial applications, and a range of control valves that help utilities manage pressure and flow in distribution networks.